Over the past years, Johnson & Johnson has contributed a lot to global health

security and preventing pandemics, including researches and prevention/control

programs for ebola, pandemic influenza, zika, and malaria. The company has also
contributed to the eradication of tuberculosis— they have partnered extensively in
high-burden countries to provide access to and ensure appropriate use of our treatment
and to raise awareness about TB more broadly. As part of this effort, in 2015, Johnson
& Johnson launched a four-year donation program with the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) and JSC Pharmstandard, one of the leading
Russian pharmaceutical manufacturers.
The company uses scale and resources for good, contributing to many causes
and initiatives around the world to help advance health and improve people’s lives—
both on a global level and at local levels—through targeted initiatives providing local
support, engaging employees in our communities, supporting them in the case of
emergencies, and donating products for a range of needs. Their Global Community
Impact partnerships and other strategic charitable initiatives via the Johnson &
Johnson Foundation include: The Johnson & Johnson Patient Assistance Foundation;
The Johnson & Johnson Corporate Citizenship Trust; various corporate functional
divisions and operating companies across our three business segments around the
world; employee volunteering and (often matched) fundraising for local causes; and
product donations.
For nearly 30 years, Johnson & Johnson and UNICEF have worked together to
empower healthcare providers in 20 countries. On World Children’s Day, Johnson &
Johnson strengthened this long-standing partnership by announcing a $10 million
expanded global partnership with UNICEF to support the crucial work of frontline
health workers in delivering care to newborns, children and mothers around the world
including among indigenous communities in Vietnam and the Philippines.
By supporting the education of indigenous midwives, Johnson & Johnson is
helping save maternal and newborn lives among remote mountainous ethnic
communities in Vietnam—this effort is part of a $10 million expanded global
partnership with UNICEF announced in 2018, one of the Company's largest
commitments to date.
Other causes currently promoted by the company include: Save the Children,
which involves newborn survival, psychosocial support of Syrian refugee children,
immediate response to humanitarian crises, employee engagement, and joint advocacy
programs; and Operation Smile, in which company generates financial and product
contributions to provide smiles to children around the world born with cleft lips and
palates.
Despite its success, Johnson & Johnson, there are still inconsistencies to the
company, and is facing lawsuits for various issues. In August 2019, the company was
ordered by an Oklahoma judge to pay the state $572 million in the first ruling in the
U.S. holding a drug-maker accountable for the opioid epidemic and is now facing
thousands of lawsuits ranging from claims that its talc-based baby powder causes
cancer to allegations that it helped fuel the nationwide opioid epidemic. Last October
2019, a Philadelphia jury ordered J&J to pay $8 billion in punitive damages for
downplaying risks that its antipsychotic drug Risperdal could promote breast growth
in males.
Most of the lawsuits being faced by the company involves its products, which
include the following: Johnson’s Talcum Powder which has been reported to be
associated to cases of ovarian cancer and mesothelioma cancer with more than six
thousand number of lawsuits; Pinnacle Acetabular Cup which are associated to
dislocation, loosening, metallosis (metal poisoning), and revision surgeries; and
Pelvic Mesh associated with erosion, infection, pain, urinary problems, recurring
prolapse, recurring incontinence resulting to above twenty thousand lawsuits.