The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating Johnson & Johnson over concerns about possible asbestos contamination of its popular baby powder and other talc-based products, the company said Wednesday. In a securities filing, Johnson & Johnson said it was “cooperating with these government inquiries and will be producing documents in response” to subpoenas it had received. In a separate statement, the company said that “the inquiries are related to news reports” about the welter of lawsuits it faces from consumers who claim its talc products caused cancers. The New York Times and Reuters reported in December on internal documents that showed decades of communications within the company about the risk of asbestos in its talc products even as Johnson & Johnson fought to keep negative information out of the public eye. In the days after the reports were published, the company’s stock sank more than 12 percent.

Source: New York Times February 21, 2019 05:17 UTC