Show 1430: Uncovering the Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson

In this episode, investigative journalist Gardiner Harris delves into the dark secrets of one of the country’s most admired pharmaceutical firms. Johnson & Johnson sold talcum powder–Johnson’s Baby Powder–for decades even though it contained asbestos, an acknowledged carcinogen. How did the company maintain its superb reputation for so long?

Johnson’s Baby Powder was as American as apple pie. The company counted on the emotional associations with its baby products. The fragrance of its Baby Powder was linked to feelings of love and security. That was smart marketing.

Continuing to sell a product contaminated with asbestos was something else, though. How did the company deal with this problem? And what did it tell the FDA?

This Week’s Guest:

Gardiner Harris previously served as the public health and pharmaceutical reporter for The New York Times and is now a freelance investigative journalist. He also served as a White House, South Asia, and international diplomacy reporter for the Times. Before that, he was a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, covering the pharmaceutical industry. His investigations there led to what was then the largest fine in the history of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He won the Robert Worth Bingham Prize for investigative journalism and the George Polk Award for environmental reporting after revealing that coal companies deliberately and illegally exposed miners to toxic levels of coal dust. Harris’s novel, Hazard, draws on his experience investigating these conditions. His latest book is No More Tears, the Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson.