Johnson & Johnson's own paid expert found asbestos in unmarked Baby Powder sample for the FDA


Johnson & Johnson maintained as late as Tuesday that a government test that had turned up asbestos in its Baby Powder was invalid, as other labs the company had hired found no traces of the carcinogen in the same bottle and subsequently recalled batch the Food and Drug Administration had tested. Unfortunately for Johnson & Johnson, Reuters reported Wednesday, in challenging the FDA, "the health-care giant is casting doubt on one of its own experts," Andreas Saldivar.
Saldivar, a key paid expert witness for Johnson & Johnson in its asbestos litigation since 2017, is laboratory director at the private Maryland lab AMA Analytical Services Inc. He testified in a May 2018 deposition that testing he did for the FDA in 2010 showed no signs of asbestos in Johnson's Baby Powder, Reuters reports. "Saldivar's lab began testing cosmetic talc products for the FDA again this year, and in September it found asbestos in an unmarked sample that the FDA later identified as Johnson's Baby Powder."
More than 16,000 people are suing Johnson & Johnson, claiming the company's Baby Powder caused their cancer. Previous cases have produced mixed results for the company: Some juries have sided with the plaintiffs, some with Johnson & Johnson, and some cases were settled, including a case in Indianapolis where the plaintiffs' lawyer won the right to share the FDA's positive asbestos test with the jury.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"This is bad news for J&J," University of Kentucky law professor Richard Ausness told Reuters. "The plaintiffs are clearly going to say this lab director worked for J&J for years, and he found asbestos so there must be asbestos there." Stanford law professor Nora Freeman Engstrom concurred. "This positive test turns up the heat on J&J," she said. "And their expert lit the match." Read more at Reuters.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Roblox, one of the world's most popular video games, has become a bastion of hate speech
The Explainer The platform has over 111 million daily users
-
Russian strike on Kyiv kills 23, hits EU offices
Speed Read The strike was the second-largest since Russia invaded in 2022
-
Did Trump just push India into China's arms?
Today's Big Question Tariffs disrupt American efforts to align with India
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year