Group Calls For US Senate To Investigate Johnson & Johnson, CEO

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Survivors to attend J&J Annual Shareholder Meeting this Thursday

New Brunswick, NJ – Women living with chronic injuries after being implanted with defective pelvic mesh devices have demanded a US Senate Investigation into Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and it’s CEO Alex Gorsky for their destruction of thousands of documents related to women that were impacted by their dangerous pelvic mesh.  The call comes one day before Johnson and Johnson’s Annual Shareholder meeting scheduled for 10am EST in New Brunswick, NJ where several survivors of the defective mesh products will present their case to the J&J shareholders themselves.

“We call for a US Senate investigation of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and its CEO Alex Gorsky regarding the destruction of thousands of documents on the health of women across the country,” stated Jane Akre, a spokeswoman for Johnson and Johnson Hurts Women.  “We need to learn to what extent Johnson and Johnson and its CEO Alex Gorsky put profits and their dangerous products above the health and safety of women.”

This morning survivors of pelvic mesh implants delivered a letter calling or a US Senate Investigation to US Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) who Chairs the Families and Children Subcommittee which has jurisdiction over women’s health.

The request for a Senate Investigation comes the day before Johnson and Johnson’s Annual Shareholder meeting in New Brunswick.  Survivors of pelvic mesh implants are planning to attend the shareholder meeting and call for shareholders to demand Gorsky and other top executives disclose the full extent of the document destruction.

“As I have experienced tremendous pain ever since I was implanted with pelvic mesh, I believe Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) needs to be held accountable,” stated Teresa Sawyer, a pelvic mesh survivor.  “I am coming to the Annual Shareholder meeting to implore that shareholders look into the cover up by CEO Gorsky and other top executives,” she added.

The Survivors also shared a new video that they discovered Gorsky stating that when you have things “60% right” to “go” and not wait until you get things better than that.  In the video it also shows how products such as Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s hip replacement had a 40% failure rate—a chilling reflection of Gorsky only 60 percent right go statements.

Meet Alex Gorsky: CEO of Johnson & Johnson

Meet Alex Gorsky: CEO of Johnson & Johnson from JNJ Hurts Women on Vimeo.

The group also launched a mico-site calling for the public to join their call for the US Senate to investigate Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and other large corporation that are hurting women.

Letter to Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC), Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Children & Families:

April 23, 2014

The Honorable Kay Hagan

Chairwoman

Subcommittee on Children and Families

521 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Washington, DC  20510

Dear Senator Hagan,

On behalf of women survivors in North Carolina and across the country, we respectfully request a US Senate investigation by your subcommittee into actions by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and its top executives for their pattern of reckless conduct that has seriously injured women across the United States who have been implanted with the corporation’s pelvic mesh products. (recent coverage by AP and Reuters below)

Today there are 30,000 defective product lawsuits filed against Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in the U.S. and a growing number worldwide, more than any of the five other major manufacturers.

As many as 30 percent of women implanted are unable to work and function and are referred to pain management.  What the future holds for these women as the mesh continues to degrade inside their bodies is unknown as the company chose not to study the long-term effects. One recent plaintiff called her implant a “ticking time bomb.”

Last month we delivered a letter to the Department of Justice asking for a criminal investigation of Johnson and Johnson for destroying thousands of documents related to the development of pelvic mesh, a move that could undermine these women’s ability to receive justice.

The Department of Justice is currently reviewing our call to investigate, and we need your help.  Corporations like Johnson and Johnson must stop putting profits over the health and safety of women.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) need to be held accountable as part of a larger war on women that stretches from Congress to the corporate boardroom.  These women don’t need evasive responses and blaming survivors by Johnson and Johnson’s executives, they need help, now.

That Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and its CEO Alex Gorsky continue to claim that the destruction of thousands of documents was “limited” is not only evasive — it is a slap in the face to the thousands of women injured by Johnson and Johnson who are seeking justice.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.  The Wall Street Journal recently reported conflicts of interest with Johnson and Johnson and a physician who sought to change the language of the treatment guidelines on pelvic mesh.  The WSJ discovered that Johnson and Johnson had paid the physician $800,000 in exchange for his influence over the regulatory process.

Johnson and Johnson’s destruction of evidence may also be violating a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the Department of Justice.

Such an investigation is urgent.  There are estimated to be hundreds of thousands of women who have been implanted – and continue to be implanted – with these dangerous products.

These women need your help to hold Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and its top executives accountable.  Johnson and Johnson must stop putting profits over the health and safety of women

Sincerely,

Jane Akre

Spokeswoman. Johnson and Johnson Hurts Women

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