Free Republic

The Johnson & Johnson (J&J) conglomerate is more than quadrupling the amount it had previously set aside to cover its potential liabilities by allocating $8.9 billion to address allegations that their talcum baby powder caused cancer. A J&J subsidiary will re-file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and ask the court to approve a plan that would lead to one of the biggest product liability settlements in American history, according to a proposal made public on Tuesday. The $8.9 billion that J&J would give to the LTL Management subsidiary would be paid over the following 25 years. The sum is higher...

Shares of Johnson & Johnson fell as much as 6% Friday amid reports the US Justice Department is pursuing a criminal investigation into the company. The DOJ is looking into whether J&J lied about the possible cancer risks of its talcum powder, according to the Bloomberg report. Lawsuits alleging the products are responsible for cancer have cited internal memos dated as far back as the 1960s that warn asbestos could be found in J&J talc products. Nearly a dozen court cases have concluded the company knew some of their Baby Powder products had at least trace amounts of asbestos and...

Johnson & Johnson shares sank 8% Friday after Reuters reported that the pharmaceutical giant knew for decades that its baby powder contained asbestos. Reuters reviewed documents, deposition, and trial testimony from at least 1971 to the early 2000s that it said showed powders and raw talc sometimes tested positively for small traces of asbestos. Furthermore, "company executives, mine managers, scientists, doctors, and lawyers fretted over the problem and how to address it while failing to disclose it to regulators or the public," the Reuters reporter Lisa Girion wrote. Johnson & Johnson issued a statement on Friday in response to the...

American Special Forces Kill 170, Capture ISIS Capital in Afghanistan During an operation in Deh Bala, an area in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, American Green Berets worked with three Afghan commando companies to combat ISIS in the region. The US military has confirmed that, during the operation, approximately 170 terrorists were killed in the ISIS capital, and the area is no longer in the hands of terrorists. The joint US-Afghan assault took place between April and was largely completed by early June. Around 600 Green Berets took part in the operation along with their Afghan counterparts. In the end,...

New US government website attacked for comments on sexuality and effectiveness of condoms (Extract from one of the many articles in the gay and liberal press attacking the new semi honest position on useless condoms) The wording of information about condoms on the site is also potentially misleading (they mean factual). US abstinence education programmes usually only mention condoms when referring to their potential for failure. The 4parents.com site suggests that condoms offer only “moderate” protection against HIV and gonorrhoea, “less” protection against Chlamidya, herpes and human papilloma virus, and that the ability of condoms to protect against syphilis “has...