A Newark Star-Ledger profile of Alex Gorsky, the new CEO of Johnson & Johnson, describes him as “the go-to man” during the company’s 1998 recall of Hismanal, an antihistamine that proved to have dangerous cardiovascular side effects.
Gorsky has succeeded previous chief executive officer William Weldon, who stepped down after a disastrous series of recalls. But the Star-Ledger mentions that some industry observers are questioning whether Gorsky played a part in marketing a hip implant that has generated thousands of lawsuits from patients who allege that its faulty design made it fail and obliged them to get another one within only a few years.
Weldon has also been criticized for leading the company when it was actively marketing these faulty hip implants. The transvaginal mesh implants, another medical device that Johnson & Johnson actively marketed under Weldon’s leadership, have also generated criticism because there was ample evidence that they were causing health problems for many consumers – including premature failure, debilitating pain and organ perforation.
See the report here: https://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2012/04/johnson_johnsons_ceo-in-waitin_1.html
