RT: 由于被诉可能致癌，强生停止在北美出售婴儿爽身粉…但在其他地区继续销售

来源：RT news

Johnson & Johnson will halt all sales of its talc-based baby powder in North America, after years of lawsuits claiming the product causes cancer – but, undeterred, the firm says it won’t stop selling it to the rest of the world.

因为常年被起诉可能致癌，强生将在北美地区停售旗下所有滑石粉基底的婴儿爽身粉，不过该公司强调，不会停止向其他地区销售。

The company announced the move in a statement on Tuesday, noting that it had decided to “permanently discontinue” the baby powder in the US and Canada to “prioritize high-demand products” amid the Covid-19 pandemic, attributing the fall in sales in part to “misinformation.”

该公司在周二的一份声明中表示，他们已经“永久终止”了婴儿爽身粉在美国和加拿大的销售，将重心移至新冠肺炎大流行期间“更有市场需求的产品”，并将此事归咎于销售不利。

“Demand for talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder in North America has been declining due in large part to changes in consumer habits and fueled by misinformation around the safety of the product and a constant barrage of litigation advertising,” the company said, adding that it would also stop selling around 100 other items in addition to the powder.

“北美对于滑石粉基底的婴儿爽身粉的需求锐减，是为消费者的消费习惯改变，还有被经年累计有关该产品安全性能的诉讼消息误导所致。”该公司这样说道，并补充除此之外他们也将停售另外100种商品。

While Johnson & Johnson insists it is “steadfastly confident” in the safety of its talc-based baby powder, vowing to “vigorously defend the product” from “unfounded allegations,” the company has faced a flurry of lawsuits from customers over the years alleging the powder contains cancer-causing agents like asbestos. Though the firm has emerged victorious from some of the suits, it has also been forced to pay out massive sums to plaintiffs in others, such as a case last February in which it was ordered to shell out $750 million to four cancer patients.

虽然强生公司称对滑石粉爽身粉安全性有“绝对的信心”，且将“坚决反对”对于该产品的“无端指责”，该公司却面临消费者连年累月的诉讼，指责其含有诸如石棉在内的致癌成分。尽管该公司打赢了其中一部分官司，在另一些中却必须支付原告大量的资金，像去年二月的一起诉讼中，强生不得不向四位癌症患者支付了7.5亿美金。

Deeming the decision a “victory for public health,” the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization slammed Johnson & Johnson for being slow to act and misleading customers, while calling on Congress to “ban asbestos once and for all.”

美国石棉疾病认识组织（ADAO）将这件事称为“公共健康的胜利”，并抨击强生公司拖延时间，误导消费者。他们还向国会提议“永久禁止使用石棉”。

“Americans should be able to trust they are safe from asbestos. Johnson & Johnson [J&J] spent decades misleading the public to think their often asbestos-contaminated baby powder was safe when they knew it was not,”said the group’s president, Linda Reinstein.

“美国人应当生活在不受石棉侵害的环境中。强生公司花了数十年误导公众，令他们相信经常使用含石棉成分的婴儿爽身粉是安全的，虽然事实并非如此。”ADAO的主席，琳达·雷恩斯坦说道。

"A small and influential group of chemical companies in America still rely on asbestos and have stood in the way of a national ban of this deadly substance. We can’t wait for them to follow J&J and see the error of their ways."

“一小撮具有影响力的化工公司仍然依赖石棉，并且阻挡了国内禁用这种致命物质的脚步。我们希望他们能步强生公司的后尘，并明白他们的错误。”

Despite some consumer safety advocates hailing the move as a win, however, the controversial product will continue to be sold “in other markets around the world,” Johson & Johnson said, where demand for the powder remains high and lawsuits are less common. The decision has left the company’s critics irked, some asking whether the world population beyond North America is “expendable.”

​尽管一些消费安全倡导者将此事视作一场胜利，但这种备受争议的产品仍然在“世界上其他的市场”中销售，强生公司说，只要这种产品的市场需求量仍然很高，并且不会经常被起诉。这个决定令反对强生公司的人士苦恼，一些人问道，北美以外的世界人口是否是“牺牲品”。