China Tells Johnson & Johnson To Practice Morality
16 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // November 7th, 2011 // 10:48 am
And now, from the country that brought you the heparin scandal… The official Chinese state news agency is offering Johnson & Johnson some pointers about doing business. To be specific, the Xinhua agency is lecturing the health care giant to “practice morality” in the wake of a threatened boycott over the use of two potentially harmful chemicals in its Baby Shampoo and some other products.
Last week, you may recall, the non-profit Campaign for Safe Cosmetics scolded J&J for selling its shampoo with traces of quaternium-15, a known carcinogen, in the US and certain other countries, while the chemical was removed from bottles sold elsewhere. Quaternium-15 is added to many cosmetic products to prevent spoiling and contamination, and works by releasing formaldehyde to kill bacteria. The group also cited the presence of 1,4-dioxane in the shampoo (back story).
And so, the Chinese government is appalled. “Abiding by laws and regulations is the minimum compliance,” according to a signed commentary on Xinhua. “Responsible businesses should have ‘moral blood’ flowing in their veins. Enterprises should fulfill their social responsibilities, and are not only bound to obey laws and regulations but must also practice morality and self-discipline.”
“If you conduct a market survey, it is obviously very difficult to find consumers who could accept products containing carcinogens,” according to Xinhua. The statement was reported by Reuters, which notes that such commentaries are, essentially, the equivalent of an official government position.
For its part, J&J released a statement last week, saying that baby products containing formaldehyde are being phased out, but insisted that the “preservative technologies” used are “safe and approved” by authorities in the US and the European Union, as well as in China and India (read here).
Some western businessmen see a pattern in which China singles out foreign companies, but goes easy on domestic companies, Reuters writes. The news service points out that Chinese companies are often accused of producing or selling fake products or adding toxic ingredients, but generally have not been hit with the sort of tough sanctions imposed on WalMart recently for selling mislabeled pork.
For those who may not recall, Chinese suppliers were blamed as the source of the tainted heparin that was led to more than 80 deaths in 2007 and 2008. The contaminated product was sold by Chinese suppliers to Scientific Protein Laboratories, which in turn, sold the supply to Baxter Laboratories. FDA officials say they have struggled to obtain sufficient cooperation from Chinese authorities in their investigation, although Congressional Republicans fault the agency for not doing more (see this).
Amy G
Pathetic….you know American capitalism has reached rock bottom when China can point the finger with accuracy and tell a family brand like J and J to practice morality. J and J should also be boycotted for their involvement in the transvaginal mesh mess! Mothers matter too!
dbunker
Amy G;
Right On! When a communist regime which has butchered 10s of Millions of its own people preaches morality to a US based company, …..
“If you conduct a market survey, it is obviously very difficult to find consumers who could accept products containing carcinogens,”
The Chi-Coms are (at least posturing about) commanding the Moral High Ground here, and lecturing a US company on free market economics 101.
This is Congress’ fault. It’s Congress’ responsibility to erect Some kind of Great Wall between the FDA and all of those PDUFA COIs they’re swimming in, and criminalize the practice of bed hopping from Federal Regulatory Agencies to Pharma/Medical Academia Boards.
Justice in MI
I just hope they never develop nuclear weapons!
harpy
ha! good luck with that
Justice in MI
Herman Cain will help keep that from happening! The dude time travels.
Duane Sherry
The Communist Chinese?
You mean the “Sleeping Dragon,” the one we used to call “Red China?”
You mean to tell me that the same country that is involved in the most basic daily human rights violations is lecturing us?
They are lecturing us?!
Good.
Somebody needs to!
The Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP)-
http://1boringoldman.com/index.php/2011/11/04/read-the-whole-script/
By the way, for what it’s worth…
I LOVE this country, which is why I’m so disgusted by what I see every day!
Duane
dzieczko
This is so stupid - the Chinese don’t know how to make their own shampoo? Where’s their *consumer power*?
Elmore
The Chinese have plenty of problems in this arena–but that shouldn’t stop them from being able to launch a legitimate complaint. Nor should their own history prevent this from being seen as legitimate.
If the only countries that could launch complaints about others had to be problem free, no country, including the US, could do so.
I M Sick
‘Morality’ is not a common word found in the health sector. Same neighborhood as hedge funds and greedy brokers and,of course, those,’ya gotta love em’ lawyers.
(Side bar): Indeed we are the capital of liturgy. Their(those 60s peace monger lawyers to be) motto,’you invent a story, we will make it pay for you’.
Is there any time left for R&D of new products, any kind?
Yours,
Very Pissed
john
I’d say this is probably an over-reaction on the part of everyone involved.
Formaldehyde exists in dynamic equilibrium with quaternium-15, and thus it would be very difficult to actually measure its concentration independently. What the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics apparently measured was the potential formaldehyde present, which is both formaldehyde (very minor) and quaternium-15 (major).
The total concentration of quaternium-15 (major) plus formaldehyde (very minor) was reported to be 200 ppm. This compares to a concentration of 2-3 ppm formaldehyde that is found in the human bloodstream 24 hours a day/7 days a week as a result of endogenous production. A baby would have to drink several tablespoons of baby shampoo in order to double the amount of formaldehyde in his or her system relative to what is naturally there all day every day.
Dioxane (not to be confused with dioxin) is a carcinogen in animals, but only at massive doses, in this case corresponding to several million-fold (possibly billion-fold) excess over what is found in shampoo.
If you want to protect your child from carcinogens, forget about the shampoo and feed him/her a vegetarian diet. The amount of benzyopyrenes, heterocyclic amines, and other carcinogens in a single grilled steak or hamburger is equivalent to smoking pack of cigarettes.
I M Sick
John,
My comments were/are directed,in general, not just to one item.
Josh
Coming from someone in the industry that has dealt with the Chinese pharmaceutical industry quite often, I can tell you they do not give a hoot about this. This is all postiring so they can feel a little high and mighty. This is coming from the same country that has put such a “high” regard for human life, i.e. melamine in baby formula and dog food, lead in children’s toys, and even children’s bracelets made of cadmium. But the industry has done it to itself by demanding cheap APIs and excipients.
I M Sick
Seems to me that the easy answer is, ban all that comes from China. For the few exceptions, raise the import fees/taxes. Simple, or am I missing something?
Ethical Monitor
As a global industry, pharmaceutical companies in every country need to start placing people over profit and become moral, ethical, and compassionate in the way they do business. This includes China. Apparently, it has become a fad in the past several years to bash the United States.
Having been in the industry for over 24-years, I am totally disheartened and saddened by the lack of scruples US Pharmaceutical corporations’ exhibit in their business operations. The quagmire of federal regulations has done nothing but make a mess allowing the FDA to place corporate interests ahead of patient safety. Lawsuits only focus regulatory jurisdictions and the public safety risks get lost in the misaligned focus in courts. There is no one more saddened about the lack of ethics and real transparency regarding the US Pharmaceutical Industry than I. The issues are serious and numerous from clinical research to manufacturing. However, China should focus on fixing their own morality before bashing other nations. What is that saying in Luke 6:42; ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye?
Here are a couple of links that people may find interesting about China’s drug industry:
Odd with its’ newly found high moral ground that China has no compunction about preventing or increasing substance abuse in other nations (especially with their history of opium abuse): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/richard-gray/8247808/Forty-new-legal-highs-made-in-China-are-being-sold-in-Britain.html
I agree baby shampoo should not contain carcinogens. But I wonder why China is complaining about the carcinogens found in the J & J baby shampoo when they have flooded the US with “supplements” containing carcinogens and ingredients banned in the US? http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/business/supplement-drugs-may-contain-dangerous-ingredients.html?pagewanted=all
How about the fake anti-malaria drugs made in southern China? Caused the death of countless people including those suffering in their own country, yet, I suppose that is moral? http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Prescription-for-Murder.html?c=y&page=4
How about dangerous drugs in the ever increasing seafood shipments from China? Again the FDA is not doing enough – thank you FDA for protecting my family and friends from harm by bad medical therapeutics. It is an old article but still relevant. http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=41907
Shankar
Oh! Please save us GOD! So it has come down to immorals preaching us about the morality! Insane!
dbunker
Justice in MI
“I just hope they never develop nuclear weapons!”
Absolutely Priceless!
http://www.newsmax.com/search?cx=011533900540746215761%3A-adksucby_s&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&sitesearch=&q=wen+ho+lee&sa=Search&safe=active
J&J’s already more than lethal enough without nukes.