Document 70De6GkYv7oeNEjO2K272gGqe

FILE NAME: Johnson & Johnson (JAJ) DATE: 1969 Apr 15 DOC#: JAJ 125 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Memo RE Alternate Domestic Talc Sources with Highlights PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT: P-0145 Subject: ,A L T E R N A T E D O M E S T IC TALC S O U R C E S P r o j e c t C ode #101 New Brunswick, N. J. A p ril 15, 1969 M r, W . H , A shton: Y our in q u iry of A p ril 9th, I969 a d d re s s e d to D r. G , H ild ick -S m ith h a s been re fe rre d to m y atten tio n fo r re p ly . O ver the y e a rs , I have rev iew ed th e lite ra tu re on the h a z a rd s re la tin g to th e in h alatio n of ta lc p a rtic le s on se v e ra l d ifferen t o c c a sio n s. In your m em o ran d u m , you in d icate th at T re m o lite does have n eed le-ty p e c ry s ta ls and th a t o u r p o sitio n h a s b een th a t th e s e could p e n e tra te th e skin and cau se ir rita tio n . A ctu ally , to th e b e s t of m y know ledge, we have no fa c tu a l in fo rm a tio n on th is su b je c t. It w ould s e e m lo g ic a l th a t it could o c c u r, alth o u g h w h eth er o r n o t it w ould be of c lin ic a l sig n ifican ce w ould be c o n je c tu ra l. We h ave been co n c e rn e d to a m uch g re a te r ex ten t w ith re g a rd to p o ssib le d a n g e rs re la tiv e to th e in h a la tio n of th e ta lc w ith a sp icu le o r n e e d le -lik e c ry s ta llin e s tru c tu re as c o m p a re d w ith th e fla t, p la te le ttype of c ry s ta llin e s tru c tu re . T h ere a re re p o rts in th e lite ra tu re co n cern in g ta lc o sis w hich, as you know , is a fo rm of p n eu m o co n io sis a ttrib u te d to th e in h alatio n of ta lc . R ep o rted stu d ies have su g g ested th a t th is does not o ccu r in connection w ith th e fla t, p la te le t-ty p e of ta lc , but does o c c u r in connection w ith th e sp ic u le -ty p e of c ry s ta llin e stru c tu re c h a ra c te ristic of T rem o lite. The rep o rted in stan ces have b een e x tre m e ly few but h av e, w ithout ex cep tio n , in v o lv ed in h a la tio n s of high c o n c e n tra tio n s on an o ccu p atio n al b a sis of m an y y e a rs d u ra tio n . F u rth e rm o re , we have o ccasio n ally receiv ed in q u irie s fro m v ario u s in d iv id u als, including G e n e ra l Jo h n so n and s e v e ra l p e d ia tric ia n s , e x p re s sin g co n cern o v e r the p o ss ib ility of the a d v e rs e effe c ts on the lungs of b ab ies o r m o th e rs who m ight in h ale any su b sta n tia l am ounts of o u r ta lc fo rm u la tio n s . In th e p a s t, w e have re p lie d to th e e ffect th a t sin ce our ta lc is e ss e n tia lly a ll of th e p la te le t-ty p e of c ry sta llin e s tru c tu re , and is of a siz e w hich w ould n o t be lik e ly to e n te r th e p u lm o n a ry a lv e o li, w e w ould n o t r e g a r d th e u sa g e of o u r p o w d e rs as p re se n tin g any h a z a rd . O bviously, if we do include T re m o lite in m o re th an unavoidable tra c e am o u n ts, th is s o rt of n eg atio n of such in q u irie s could no lo n g e r p e rta in . Protected Document-Subject to Protective order EXHIBIT Ql2. JNJNL61_000001534 PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT: P-0145 M r. W. H. A shton A p ril 15th, 1969 Upon v a rio u s o ccasio n s we have d is c u sse d the p o ssib ility of c a rry in g out stu d ie s on an im a ls w hich m ig h t p ro v id e fa c tu a l in fo rm a tio n w ith re g a rd to w h eth er o r n o t v a ria b le e x p o su res to ta lc su sp en d ed in the en v iro n m en tal atm o sp h ere m ight be p ro d u ctiv e of fib ro tic a n d /o r in flam m ato ry re a c tio n s in lu n g s. F o r a v a rie ty of re a so n s, th e se have never been c a rried out h ere; Since p u lm o n a ry d is e a s e s , including in fla m m a to ry , fib ro p la s tic , and n e o p la stic ty p e s, a p p e a r to be on th e in c r e a s e , it w ould se e m to be p ru d en t to lim it any p o ssib le content of T re m o lite in o u r pow der fo rm u la tio n s to an ab so lu te m in im u m . To the b e s t of m y know ledge, we have n e v e r been faced w ith any litig a tio n involving e ith e r sk in o r lung p e n e tra tio n by o u r ta lc fo rm u la tio n s . Som e y e a rs ago, we w e re faced w ith a m o re o r le s s se rio u s p ro b le m re s u ltin g fro m w hat we c o n sid e r to h av e b een an u n ju s t a c c u sa tio n of d a n g e r due to the p re s e n c e of a sm a ll am ount of b o ric a c id in o u r ta lc . T his c re a te d such a fu ro r th a t w e w ere m o re o r le s s co m p elled to rem o v e b o ric a c id fro m the fo rm u latio n . It is con ceiv ab le th a t a s im ila r situ a tio n m ight ev en tu ally a ris e if it b ecam e know n th at our ta lc fo rm u latio n s co n tain ed any sig n ifican t am ount of T re m o lite . S ince th e u sag e of th e se p ro d u cts is so w id e sp re a d , and th e ex isten ce of pu lm o n ary d is e a se is in c re a s in g , it is n o t in co n ceiv ab le th a t we could b eco m e involved in litig a tio n in w hich p u lm o n a ry fib ro sis o r o th e r changes m ig h t be rig h tfu lly o r w ro n g fu lly a ttrib u te d to in h a la tio n of o u r pow d er fo rm u la tio n s^ It m ig h t be th a t som eone in the L aw D ep artm en t should be co n su lted w ith re g a rd to th e d e fe n sib ility of our p o sitio n in the event th at such a situ a tio n could ev e r a r is e . It is m y p e rso n a l feeling th at u n til we have at le a s t su b stan tial evidence, b a se d on a n im a l w o rk , to th e e ffe c t th a t th e p re s e n c e of T re m o lite in o u r ta lc does not p ro d u ce a d v e rse e ffects, we should n o t extend its u sag e beyond an absolute m in im u m p re v io u sly m entioned. T M T iJA G cc: D r. R, A. F u lle r D r, G avin H ild ick -S m ith M r. W. J . Ryan D r , C-. H . L o r d D r, J . E . W illson D r. J . B othw ell n ^ so n , M . D. Protected Document-Subject to Protective Order JNJNL61. 000001635