Over the past 50 years, the leading pharmaceutical companies in the United States have caused the injuries and deaths of millions of Americans. This troubling reality has reached such widespread acknowledgment that iatrogenic harm—injuries and deaths caused by medical treatment and erroneous diagnoses—now ranks as the third leading cause of death. There is growing consensus that our federal health agencies, which are meant to protect public health, have failed to address this crisis in any meaningful way. In fact, these agencies have often undermined efforts to confront the serious flaws in our healthcare system and in fact enable systemic corruption to thrive within the industry.
Studies over the years have consistently placed iatrogenic deaths as one of the leading causes of mortality with some analyses labeling it the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer. However, there is increasing evidence that the actual numbers may be significantly higher than what current estimates suggest, revealing a deep and pervasive crisis within the healthcare system.
The most frequently cited research on iatrogenic deaths comes from a Johns Hopkins study, which estimated that approximately 250,000 Americans die annually due to preventable medical errors. Published in BMJ in 2016, the study highlighted systemic issues such as misdiagnoses, medication errors, and inefficiencies in healthcare systems as major contributors to these deaths.
However, an even more alarming estimate comes from the British Medical Journal and places the figure at 400,000 deaths per year, arguing that the Johns Hopkins study failed to include broader systemic failures and unnecessary medical interventions. Both studies firmly position iatrogenic deaths as a leading cause of mortality, but neither captures the entirety of the problem.
Iatrogenic deaths encompass a wide array of causes; conservative figures include but are by no means limited to:
- Medication Errors: Accounting for an estimated 70,000 deaths annually, these errors range from incorrect prescriptions and dosages to harmful drug interactions.
- Surgical Complications: Surgical errors and postoperative complications lead to 60,000 deaths per year, including issues such as infections and unintended organ damage.
- Diagnostic Errors: Misdiagnoses and delayed diagnoses contribute to 100,000 deaths annually, often preventing timely and effective treatment.
- Nosocomial (Hospital-Acquired) Infections: These infections, often due to resistant bacteria or lapses in hygiene, result in 100,000 deaths per year.
Systemic failures such as inadequate staffing, human error, mistakes in electronic medical records, and communication breakdowns account for another 80,000 deaths annually. These numbers, while staggering, only scratch the surface.
The grim reality is that the true toll of iatrogenic deaths may far exceed even the highest estimates. The current data is largely based on hospital records, which means deaths occurring outside the hospital setting often go unreported. For example, a patient discharged after treatment may succumb to complications caused by medical errors, but such cases rarely make it into official statistics. Similarly, misdiagnoses leading to deaths at home or in long-term care facilities are often not recognized as iatrogenic.
The COVID-19 pandemic added new dimensions to iatrogenic risks. Treatments such as mechanical ventilation, poorly tested experimental vaccines and emergency use drugs like remdesivir have now been proven to cause enormous harm. Overuse of ventilators, for instance, was linked to lung injuries and ventilator-associated pneumonia, contributing to thousands of deaths globally. Remdesivir was associated with higher than expected rates of adverse effects such as kidney and liver damage. Vaccines are implicated in a wide variety of serious adverse events including myocarditis and pericarditis, thrombosis, neurological conditions, encephalomyelitis, transverse myelitis, Bell’s Palsy, exacerbation of autoimmune diseases, miscarriages, and very likely turbo cancers
The silent epidemic of iatrogenic deaths is a stark reminder of the fragility of even the most advanced healthcare systems. Modern medicine is riddled with preventable errors that cost hundreds of thousands of lives each year and private corporate interests exacerbate the problem.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the dysfunction within the pharmaceutical and medical fields was brought into sharp focus. The pandemic revealed the extent to which medical professionals, health organizations, and pharmaceutical companies were willing to go in order to push their interests at the cost of truth and lives. A coordinated effort of disinformation and deception, largely based on shaky and often fabricated scientific evidence, led to outcomes that were disastrous by any measure. At the heart of this crisis was an erosion of trust in the very institutions that are supposed to safeguard public health. Trust, the foundation of all human relationships—personal, professional, and public—was repeatedly broken by the American medical establishment.
Major pharmaceutical companies, particularly Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Pfizer, have long been associated with legal and ethical violations that directly impact the health and well-being of millions of people. These companies have faced lawsuits for everything from misleading marketing and price manipulation to negligent behavior and corporate corruption. While these drug and vaccine giants generate billions in profits annually, the legal consequences they face for their actions often come in the form of minor fines and rarely address any real accountability. Executives seldom face jail time, and companies are rarely forced to pay for the full extent of the damage they cause. The result is a healthcare system driven by profit at the expense of human lives.
These companies’ continued ability to operate unhindered is emblematic of the deep dysfunction within the nation’s culture of scientific deceit that has endured for over half a century. Even in the face of overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing, including the suppression of crucial information, whistleblowers who dare speak the truth are often silenced or punished. The recent revelations that the Biden administration spent $260 million to suppress information about the pandemic and the mRNA vaccines highlights Big Pharma’s financial and political power over Washington. Those who seek to expose corruption or question the status quo are met with fierce opposition, while the powerful players behind the industry continue to manipulate the narrative to suit their ambitions and goals.
The behavior of J&J, Merck, and Pfizer is not isolated. These companies are representative of a larger issue within the pharmaceutical industry—one that prioritizes profits over patient safety and fosters an environment where corporate greed thrives unchecked. They are part of a culture that consistently puts the interests of pharmaceutical executives and investors above the health and safety of the public, and the results have been catastrophic. Whether it is through the approval of dangerous drugs, misleading marketing practices, price gouging, or a refusal to acknowledge the harm caused by their products, these companies contribute to the growing number of medically induced deaths that plague the nation.
The consequences of these actions cannot be ignored. The medical industry’s failure to address iatrogenic harm should be a wake-up call for the nation. As whistleblowers and medical professionals who challenge the status quo face increasing disingenuous tactics to silence their voices, the truth remains hidden from the public eye. Until these issues are addressed, it is unlikely that meaningful change will come to our broken healthcare system.
This article examines the corruption, crimes, and lawsuits involving these three pharmaceutical behemoths in order to shed light on how their actions are representative of a larger national health crisis. By understanding the role these companies play in shaping public health, we can begin to confront the reality of the broken system they have helped create.
Johnson & Johnson
For decades, according to a Guardian article, “consumers worldwide have named the $347 billion pharmaceutical behemoth Johnson and Johnson (J&J) as one of its most trusted brands.” From its humble beginnings in the 1880s, making cotton gauze dressings and eventually band aids, baby powder and shampoo, J&J has expanded into one of the most powerful multinational pharmaceutical and medical device companies in the world. In 1959, it entered the world of Big Pharma as a leading player after succeeding in getting Tylenol approved as an over-the-counter drug. Shortly thereafter J&J commenced with a flurry of acquisitions to increase its product line, which included Neutrogena, Cordis, DePuy, Janssen Pharmaceutica and Centocor. Today, in most American home medicine cabinets one will find a popular J&J product: Listerine, Tylenol and Benadryl, Neutrogena skin cream, Rogaine, Neosporin antibacterial ointment, or Destin to treat diaper rashes.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, people were eager for J&J’s “one shot and you’re done” Covid-19 vaccine despite health officials’ fears it may be less effective than Moderna’s and Pfizer’s mRNA competitors. These original fears are now known to be erroneous and unfounded. J&J’s vaccine was effectively removed in early 2023 due to serious adverse effects, particularly thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS)—a severe blood clotting disorder—and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). These risks prompted the CDC and FDA to give high priority to the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) as early as December 2021. After its vaccine’s failure, the company played no critical role in the pandemic aside from providing supply chains for the distribution of other drug companies’ products.
More important, J&J’s reputation needs to be challenged. A 2019 report by the British intelligence firm Alva has noted that J&J’s reputation has sunk dramatically during the past years, from 9th place among 58 major pharmaceutical firms to 57th. Certainly, this is not a company with a clean ethical record.[1]
A review of J&J’s rap sheet over the past three decades presents a dire and contrary image that should lead us to question the company’s claims about its Covid-19 vaccine given the lucrative market the pandemic has created for the most aggressive medical corporations.
Similar to its equally over-sized competitors Glaxo, Merck and Pfizer, J&J too has had to pay out billions of dollars over the decades for civil settlements and criminal activities. Brazil’s Public Prosecution Service conducted an investigation into J&J’s antitrust activities under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for “possible improper payments in its medical device industry.”[2] This was part of an FBI bribery scheme investigation that included Siemens, General Electric and Philips acting as a larger cartel to illegally payoff government officials in return for securing contracts with Brazil’s national health programs. The charges also include price gouging, inflating prices up to 800 percent the market price to cover bribes.
This was not the first time J&J violated FCPA laws. In 2011, J&J was charged by the Department of Justice with conspiracy for paying off Greek doctors to advance its product sales. The SEC also charged civil complaints. The company had to pay out a $70 million penalty for buying off officials in Greece, Poland and Romania.[3] The previous year, an executive for J&J’s subsidiary DePuy was sentenced to a year in prison for corrupt payments to physicians within the Greek national healthcare system.
As one of the world’s leading medical device companies, J&J has faced numerous recalls for faulty products including contact lenses and hip implants In 2013, it paid nearly $2.5 billion to compensate 8,000 recipients for its flawed hip implants Again in 2016, another $1 billion was awarded to plaintiffs injured from this device.[4]
One particular dubious activity the company became involved with in 2008 was to launch a “phantom recall.” When its Motrin IB caplets were discovered to not properly dissolve, it hired outside contractors to buy up store supplies in order to avoid making public declarations. No one would have known of this activity and it would have gotten past the eyes of FDA inspectors had the deception not been exposed during a Congressional investigation.
Other major J&J lawsuits and recalls for faulty products include:
2010 – $81 million settlement for misbranding its anti-epileptic drug Topamax to treat psychiatric disorders and hiring outside physicians to join its sales force to promote the drug for unapproved conditions.[5] The following year, J&J paid $85 million for similar charges against its heart drug Natrecor
2011 – Several of its baby products were discovered to contain carcinogenic ingredients
2013 – The US Justice Department charged the company $2.2 billion in criminal fines for marking its autism and anti-psychotic drug Risperdal for unapproved uses. Forty-five states had filed civil lawsuits against J&J in the scandal.[6]
Risperdal is a horrendous drug that contributes to rapid weight gain and a condition known as gynescomastia, irregular enlarged breasts in men. Semmelweis reports that J&J’s subsidiary Janssen also had an aggressive campaign to market its use in children with behavioral challenges. Other serious adverse effects from Risperdal reported by the FDA include diabetes mellitus, hyperprolactinaemia, somnolence, depression, anxiety, psychotic behavior, suicide and death.
The company’s legal problems over Risperdal do not appear to have ended. In October 2019, a Philadelphia jury awarded a man $8 billion in punitive damages for failing to warn that the drug could cause young men to grow breasts. Other recent suits include litigation over its blood thinner Xarelto risks of internal bleeding, and a $775 million settlement to 25,000 plaintiffs.
2016 – Two women were awarded $127 million in damages for the talc in its J&J Baby Powder causing ovarian cancer. Later, over 1,000 similar cases came forward. During the trial it was discovered that J&J suspected a link between talcum and ovarian cancer back in the 1970s. A Missouri verdict fined the company over $4 billion but it was later reduced to $2.1 billion. A New York Times investigation into internal J&J memos uncovered evidence that the talcum powder may have contained asbestos.[7] These cases continue. In July 2019, J&J made efforts to dismiss 14,000 lawsuits over the talcum-cancer risk.
In more recent years, J&J was in the spotlight for its contribution to the deadly opioid crisis. The company holds the patent for a unique strain of opium poppy commonly named Norman. It is the leading provider of the opioid for Purdue Pharma’s painkiller OxyContin. An Oklahoma court ordered a $465 million fine.[8] This opened the door for other states to follow suit. To fully realize how insane the system is, the half a billion dollar civil fine was good news on Wall Street, which anticipated the verdict would be in the billions of dollars. Consequently, J&J’s stock rose 2 percent after the judge’s ruling. And despite J&J being Purdue’s major supplier, and a major contributor in the US’s opioid epidemic, the latter was forced to file for bankruptcy due to mounting lawsuits for overdose deaths.
In April 2021, J&J again had to payout $5 billion to settle nationwide opioid lawsuits as part of a broader $26 billion settlement involving other manufacturers and distributors. The company manufactured and supplied the active ingredients such as Duragesic (fentanyl) and Nucynta (tapentadol) for which it was busted for misleading marketing downplaying addiction risks, aggressive promotion to healthcare providers, and creating “pseudo-scientific” research to push opioids.
Last year, the company paid out $8.9 billion to settle baby talc powder ovarian cancer claims by tens of thousands of plaintiffs. The product was found contaminated with asbestos that J&J had prior knowledge about but ignored the risks. This case followed an earlier bankruptcy maneuver that was rejected by the courts.
Other major recalls that likely contributed to many injuries for which there is no accurate accounting include J&J’s hernia mesh products for contributing to recurrent hernias and infections; an FDA Class 1 recall on malfunctioning surgicial staples resulting in serious tissue damage and excessive bleeding; microbial contaminated Xarelto leading to uncontrollable bleeding; and, its Neutrogena and Aveeno aerosol sunscreens contaminated with the carcinogen benzene.
There is something more to this story that demands investigation. If the company’s long rap sheet offers any warning, it is that we must be wary of any claims J&J publicly states about the efficacy and safety of its products. Especially when the company’s promise is to increase the profits of its numerous shareholders.
