J&J Talc Verdict: $8.9 Billion; Moderate Drinking Is Not Good for You
Johnson & Johnson's baby powder and other talc-containing products have been taken to court over possible carcinogenicity. On April 4, 2023, J&J announced plans to pay $8.9 billion over the next 25 years to compensate consumers, settling lawsuits over the possible carcinogenicity of its baby powder and other talc products; J&J subsidiary LTL Management also refiled for bankruptcy protection.
Why do baby powder and other talc products cause cancer? It is because these talc products contain asbestos. Asbestos fibers are a Group 1 carcinogen; long-term inhalation of a sufficient amount of asbestos fibers can cause incurable diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma, seriously ravaging the patient's health. Asbestos and talc both belong to the silicate compounds and are very easily mixed together; therefore, the natural mineral talc is something ordinary people like us should keep at a respectful distance from.
Besides being found in products such as baby powder, talc is also used in Chinese medicine as a herbal; it is a diuretic. Most of the talc sold in pharmacies is natural mineral and contains a small amount of asbestos impurity. I therefore suggest that people stop using this herbal and try to replace it with other Chinese medicines with fewer side effects. Many classic TCM formulas contain talc—for example, both Zhang Zhongjing's Zhuling Tang and the famous warm-disease formula Sanren Tang contain talc. We must move with the times and phase out such formulas promptly.
In what other situations might ordinary people come into contact with talc? The condoms we use every day and the tea we drink may both contain talc. Some manufacturers use the lubricating effect of talcum powder as a lubricant on the outer coating of condoms; such talcum-powder condoms may cause women to develop incurable diseases such as ovarian cancer. So when buying condoms we must be careful not to buy those containing talcum powder.
In addition, stir-frying tea with talcum powder makes the tea leaves slippery and gives them a nice feel, so some unscrupulous merchants stir-fry tea with talcum powder to make their tea look better. Most buyers who are laymen when buying tea are easily deceived by this false appearance. If we buy and drink such talcum-powder tea over the long term, our bodies will be greatly affected. People often say that drinking tea preserves health, but some people who drink tea for a long time not only fail to achieve health preservation but in the end develop cancer; the chief culprit is the Group 1 carcinogen asbestos fibers contained in tea stir-fried with talc.
Another recent study shows that moderate drinking is also not good for health, a finding that overturns the beliefs of many people who think moderate drinking is beneficial to health.
The New York Times recently reported on a study of drinking over the past 40-plus years; the latest analysis states that moderate drinking is in fact not beneficial to health. The analysis points out that if a woman drinks 25 g of alcohol a day (roughly equivalent to 300 ml of wine), her risk of premature death rises significantly. If a man drinks 45 g of alcohol a day, his risk of premature death also rises significantly.
Professor Stockwell of the Canadian Institute for Social Research said that earlier studies failed to recognize that light-to-moderate drinkers have other healthy lifestyle habits and advantages, and ignored these factors; therefore the conclusion that moderate drinking is beneficial to health was wrong. In fact, whether moderate or excessive, drinking affects health; alcohol significantly raises the risk of breast cancer, colon cancer, heart disease and stroke. Therefore, in January of this year, Canada released new drinking guidelines recommending that both men and women should reduce their drinking.