Johnson & Johnson has sued four doctors who published studies citing links between talc-based personal care products and cancer, escalating an attack on scientific studies that the company alleges are inaccurate.
That’s what worries me, silencing science. If they disagree with the study, do more studies and extended the discussion.
The only way this suit ends well for humanity is if at the end the judge has enough common sense to issue a multimillion dollar settlement back to the scientists named to absolutely chill this type of corporate behavior immediately.
It almost certainly won’t happen and we’re probably fucked… But hey, we can dream, right?!
Doubt the motivation here is disagreement with the studies, so much as hoping to be able to sell products regardless of whether they are safe or not.
The courts are unlikely to agree with J&J, but it will nevertheless make scientists (and journals) more wary of publishing if they fear having to defend themselves against lawsuits brought by massive corporations.