tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29361741.post4177521011373888675..comments2023-12-30T05:22:27.108-05:00Comments on The New York Crank: Hey, what are you so mad about? We only gave you a little bit of cancer.The New York Crankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04489472134701718697noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29361741.post-45886689626046616442018-12-16T13:48:31.170-05:002018-12-16T13:48:31.170-05:00All excellent points, Lynn. Sorry it took me so lo...All excellent points, Lynn. Sorry it took me so long to check for comments today, but I'm glad to receive this one. Better I'm late than never.<br /><br />--CrankyThe New York Crankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04489472134701718697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29361741.post-47946134569510141312018-12-15T23:32:43.899-05:002018-12-15T23:32:43.899-05:00I worked in the environmental, health and safety f...I worked in the environmental, health and safety field for over 30 years. I worked as a regulator of asbestos, as a consultant to companies that were involved with asbestos and as an asbestos abatement contractor. Most of which is immaterial to what I'm going to say here, but I do know things about asbestos.<br /><br />I found the Reuters article to be long on commentary but short on useful facts. If it were given to me to determine, I would want to know how many samples had been taken, where they came from, how they were handled (chain-of-custody is crucial in this kind of investigation). I'd want to know what statistical procedures J&J used to determine how ofter they sampled and tested using the X-ray method and how often using the electron microscope method (Transmission Electron Microscopy - known as TEM). And I'd like to see how well they conformed to their statistical methods.<br /><br />Until there is some of that type of info made available, this is kind of a he-said, she-said situation.<br /><br />The TEM method used to be fairly expensive, but now it is now affordable (down from high hundreds to over a thousand in the 80s to maybe $100 now), so going forward, J&J ought to be able to do much more of that analysis without straining their budgets. Stockholders might not even notice the change in cost....<br /><br />The thing that makes me wonder about whether or not this report is correct is that hundreds of thousands if not millions of babies have been exposed to talcum powder. And they've been exposed at a time when their lungs are underdeveloped and therefore MORE at risk from exposure to asbestos. I can't immediately put my hands on any good data, but it would seem that epidemiologists would have been sounding the alarm if the rates of asbestosis and mesothelioma weren't dropping or at least staying steady.<br /><br />Certainly this needs to be investigated and certainly J&J's response - blaming the plaintiffs and their attorneys - is unacceptable. I do NOT see this as a convincingly made case.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17481459208057534462noreply@blogger.com