Johnson & Johnson dismisses 'conspiracy theory' in baby-powder report

Johnson & Johnson dismissed as an “absurd conspiracy theory” a Reuters report on Friday that employees had, for decades, covered up tests showing its baby powder was sometimes tainted with cancer-causing asbestos.

The powder “is safe and asbestos free,” the New Brunswick, N.J.-based company said in a statement, and studies of more than 100,000 people have shown talc — an ingredient in Johnson’s Baby Powder — doesn’t cause cancer or asbestos-related disease. “Thousands of independent tests by regulators and the world’s leading labs prove our baby powder has never contained asbestos,” Johnson & Johnson said.