Johnson & Johnson Shells Out Nearly $9 Billion to Settle Cancer Allegations

Johnson & Johnson agreed to dole out $8.9 billion to numerous people who alleged the pharmaceutical giant’s talcum powder products led to cancer on Tuesday, according to a proposal released in filing Tuesday.

The plaintiffs include the relatives of people who perished from ovarian cancer and mesothelioma allegedly due to Johnson & Johnson products; if the settlement is approved, it will put an end to their long legal saga, according to The New York Times. Under Johnson & Johnson’s proposed settlement, the giant would pay the nearly $9 billion over the next 25 years to the plaintiffs.

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Ohio Attorney General Announces Preliminary Agreement with Walmart on Opioid Addiction Liability

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) announced on Tuesday that he and 15 other state attorneys general have negotiated a preliminary deal with the multinational retailer Walmart, from which Ohio would get $114 million for opioid recovery programs.

The $3.1 billion national agreement comes after Yost and other prosecutors sought accountability for what they characterize as the superstore’s failure to safely and securely dispense high-strength prescription pain relievers through its more than 5,100 pharmacies across America. Other state prosecutor’s offices who worked alongside him include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, New York, Tennessee and Texas.
The agreement comes after Yost and other prosecutors sought accountability for what they characterize as the superstore’s failure to safely and securely dispense high-strength prescription pain relievers through its more than 5,100 pharmacies across America. Other state prosecutor’s offices who worked alongside him include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, New York, Tennessee and Texas.

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Project Veritas Catches Johnson & Johnson Employees Arguing Against Children Getting Vaccinated

Two Johnson & Johnson employees have admitted on hidden camera that children should not be forced to get injected with a COVID vaccine because of the potential of long-term side effects.

In Part 3 of Project Veritas’ COVID vaccine investigative series, a J&J scientist also voiced support for making unvaccinated Americans feel like second class citizens to coerce them into getting the jab, while at the same time recommending against getting the J&J COVID vaccine. “Don’t get the Johnson & Johnson,” Justin Durrant told a Project Veritas undercover journalist. “I didn’t tell you though,” he added.

Brandon Schadt, J&J’s Regional Business Lead, told the undercover journalist, “J&J is like stepping in the best smelling pile of sh-t you could step in.”

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FDA Fully Approves Pfizer’s COVID Vaccine

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave full approval Monday to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, a major step that will likely have significant implications for vaccination mandates nationwide. The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have not yet received full FDA authorization.

The Pfizer vaccine previously received FDA authorization, which allowed its emergency use but did not give the full approval. Pfizer is the first company to receive full approval in the U.S.

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Feds: Vaccinated Americans Will Need Booster Shots

The Biden administration announced Wednesday that federal health experts now recommend vaccinated Americans receive a COVID booster shot.

The boosters will be widely distributed to the public after research indicated that the vaccine’s effectiveness declines over time.

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Factory Mixup Ruins 15 Million Johnson & Johnson Coronavirus Vaccines

COVID-19 Vaccinations

Workers at a Baltimore plant responsible for producing two separate coronavirus vaccines mistakenly mixed up their respective ingredients, ruining approximately 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine and pausing all production at the plant, the company confirmed Wednesday.

The facility, run by Emergent BioSolutions, had partnered with both Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca to produce vaccines. Federal officials said that the mistake was a result of human error, according to The New York Times, which first reported the mix up that reportedly occurred several weeks ago.

A quality control review “identified one batch of drug substance that did not meet quality standards at Emergent BioSolutions, a site not yet authorized to manufacture drug substance for our COVID-19 vaccine,” Johnson & Johnson said in a statement. “This batch was never advanced to the filling and finishing stages of our manufacturing process.”

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Johnson and Johnson Ships 4 Million Vaccine Doses, Shots Expected Within 48 Hours

Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine began distribution across the country Monday, and the company’s CEO said shots could begin within 48 hours.

“We’re shipping 4 million [doses] literally as we speak,” Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky told NBC News Monday morning. “Within the next 24 to 48 hours, Americans should start receiving shots in arms.”

Gorsky added that the company was on track to distribute 100 million shots by the end of June and 1 billion by the end of 2021. Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine was recommended by the FDA’s vaccine advisory panel on Friday and officially approved one day later.

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FDA Panel Votes to Recommend Johnson & Johnson’s Coronavirus Vaccine for Emergency Authorization

The Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory panel voted Friday evening to recommend Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency approval, clearing the way for its authorization, distribution and administration nationwide.

The vote followed hours of the panel live-streaming its process of scouring over data from the pharmaceutical company in order to reaffirm that the vaccine was safe for the millions of Americans who will receive it. The FDA also released the vaccine’s clinical trial data on Wednesday showing that the vaccine was effective in fighting the virus itself.

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Johnson & Johnson’s Coronavirus Vaccine Offers Strong Protection, Reduces Spread, FDA Analysis Finds

Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose vaccine is effective in preventing severe and fatal coronavirus cases, and may reduce the virus’s transmission among vaccinated people, the FDA said in new analyses Wednesday.

The drug maker announced in January that its vaccine was 72% effective against the virus in the United States and 64% effective in South Africa, where a mutated, more transmissible strain has become dominant. Its vaccine was 86% effective in preventing severe virus cases in the U.S., meaning that a vaccinated individual is at a far smaller risk of being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19.

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Johnson & Johnson Files for Emergency Authorization for Its Coronavirus Vaccine

Johnson & Johnson filed for emergency use authorization from the FDA on Thursday for its coronavirus vaccine.

The drug maker’s application followed its announcement that its vaccine was 72% effective in combating the virus. Although that’s slightly lower than Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines, Johnson & Johnson’s requires one dose instead of two.

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AstraZeneca, Johnson and Johnson Resuming U.S. Tests of COVID-19 Vaccines

Two drugmakers announced Friday the resumption of U.S. testing of their COVID-19 vaccine candidates.

Testing of AstraZeneca’s vaccine candidate had been halted since early September, while Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine study was paused at the beginning of last week. Each company had a study volunteer develop a serious health issue, requiring a review of safety data.

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Johnson & Johnson Begins Final Stage of Testing for Its Single-Dose COVID-19 Vaccine

Johnson & Johnson began its final round of testing for its COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday.

The study is one of the most expansive to occur so far, involving 60,000 volunteers across the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Mexico and South Africa, the Associated Press reported. The vaccine is the latest to begin its final testing phase, joining candidates developed by Moderna and Pfizer, and is the only vaccine that would be administered as a single dose.

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Seven Pharma Execs Who Testified Before Congress Tuesday Make a Combined $116 Million Per Year

by Evie Fordham   Five of the seven pharmaceutical companies who sent executives to testify on drug pricing before the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday have the top-25 highest-paid pharma CEOs for companies in the S&P 500. CEOs from AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Pfizer and Sanofi plus Johnson & Johnson’s…

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