End of the Talc Legal War

A decade of courtroom warfare culminated Monday as US attorneys cemented a historic $5.5 billion settlement with Johnson & Johnson, delivering a decisive blow in the fight over cancer-linked talc products. 

J&J said the settlement covers about 76,000 claims, including ones consolidated in federal court in New Jersey, and related cases in state court, representing nearly all of the remaining talc claims against the company. J&J previously settled most of the cases alleging that their talc contained asbestos and caused mesothelioma. 

Plaintiffs' legal teams affirmed that the agreement marked a successful conclusion to an enduring legal battle. The deal must be accepted by 95% of the ovarian cancer claimants in state ⁠or federal court before it becomes final. 

J&J's vice president of litigation, Erik Haas, maintained the claims were "meritless" and that the company were willing to settle in order to get closure. 😂😂😂 

J&J have long denied that their ⁠talc products caused cancer, saying that talc was safe and did not contain asbestos. Still, the company stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the US in 2020, switching to a cornstarch product. 

Litigation only revived in March 2025 after a three-year standstill. This delay was triggered by Johnson & Johnson's collapsed "Texas two-step" legal strategy, where the corporate giant pushed a shell subsidiary into bankruptcy three distinct times to escape full liability. Each bankruptcy ended in dismissal. 

Before the bankruptcy attempts, J&J had a mixed record in talc trials, with a multibillion verdict in favor of 22 women who said baby powder caused their ovarian cancer. The company won some trials outright and had other verdicts reduced on appeal. 

Unlike ⁠the proposed bankruptcy settlements, Monday's agreement applies only to existing claims and does not address future lawsuits.

Bizarre Backstory on Black Myth: Wukong

Undeniably, "Black Myth: Wukong" is a resounding success, having sold a remarkable 10 million copies in just 3 days. As well as an eye-watering three million concurrent players across all platforms. 

 

I don't know much about video games, nonetheless, I'm impressed by it. I daresay it has truly presented itself to be an incredible game.

As reviews poured in, it’s becoming clear that critics have generally enjoyed it. It garnered an 82 percent rating on OpenCritic, receiving praise for its sleek, cinematic visuals and exciting, high-octane combat scenes – but more importantly, it successfully translates the Chinese mythology of monkey god Sun Wukong into a compelling action RPG. 

Amidst it all, there is this bizarre backstory that alleged that Sweet Baby Inc., a Canadian narrative consultancy company had tried to blackmail Game Science to pay $7 million in "guidance fees", ostensibly to incorporate DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) elements into "Black Myth: Wukong". And when the developer refused to pay up, it is claimed games media coordinated a campaign to attack the Chinese studio. Because, you know, journalists are corrupt and all that.

As a response to this rejection of their service, Rebekah Valentine, an IGN journalist wrote a hit piece accusing Game Science of fostering a culture of sexism and misogyny. However the write-up has been said to contain maliciously mistranslated tweets that were meant to paint Game Science in a negative way. 

To make matters worse, ScreenRant and Gamespot additionally doubled down in their reviews of "Black Myth: Wukong", referencing IGN's angry article on Game Science.

The Sweet Baby Inc. story has gained traction amongst gamers – it's all over Youtube which is where I first found out about this – but whether it is true or not, I really cannot tell. I did, however, track down an X post by @Pirat_Nation published June 14, 2024 on the subject in question but I should state here that it hardly works as proof.

But neither do I want to discount it. After all, many Western companies (e.g. American Airlines, Cisco, Disney, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Novartis, Starbucks) have enthusiastically embraced the woke agenda and Sweet Baby Inc. may be one of them.

The above aside, I do know that there are many, many "diverse" characters in "Black Myth: Wukong" and amongst them:

I reckon this proves there is, indeed, DEI in "Black Myth: Wukong"! 

😛😛😛

Ebola Stays Put in Uganda

My September 28 post “Crashing Ringgit And Rising Inflation” had mentioned about an Ebola outbreak in Uganda. Regrettably, it has become a really serious problem. 

And to make matters worse, the current epidemic in Uganda is of the Sudan strain of the virus, for which there is no approved vaccine, unlike the more common Zaire strain. 

[Note: Merck’s Ervebo vaccine (rVSV-ZEBOV), which WHO said had limited infections and saved lives, was developed rapidly during the 2014-16 epidemic but came too late to have a significant impact at the time. Still, it was used during an outbreak in the west of the Democratic Republic of Congo. There’s also a second vaccine by Johnson & Johnson and which has been approved for use by the European Medicines Agency. But neither of these vaccines has been tested against the Sudan strain]. 

The CDC’s outbreak update as at October 12, 2022: 

• Total cases: 74 (54 confirmed, 20 probable) 
• Total deaths: 39 (19 confirmed, 20 probable) 
• Case-Fatality Proportion: 52.7% 
• Total recoveries: 14 
• Districts affected: 5 (Bunyangabu, Kagadi, Kassanda, Kyegegwa, Mubende) 

Already, a three-week lockdown is in place in two districts of Uganda, i.e. Mubende and neighboring Kassanda as the country battles the Ebola outbreak. 

The country's president Yoweri Museveni has already ordered police to arrest anyone suspected of having the virus who refused to isolate. 

And he has forbidden traditional healers from trying to handle cases. In previous outbreaks, healers have been associated with hotspots for spread of the virus. 

Liverpool picked up a mouth-watering and much-needed 1-0 victory over Manchester City in a pulsating Premier League clash at Anfield on Sunday. 

A magnificent win! I readily admit I didn’t see this result coming! That's why I'm a fan. Despite being critical, we gotta love our boys! YNWA! 

All because of a sensational goal from Mohamed Salah in the seventy-sixth minute! Alisson sent a long ball forward, a Citizens’ defender tried to kill the ball and failed and which allowed Salah to race through on goal and lifting an ice-cool finish over the goalkeeper. Cue bedlam.

👇 Every angle of Salah's strike from Alisson's pinpoint pass – what a gem!

Anfield predictably erupted as if it was a title-deciding goal – but for Liverpool's season, it might just be as massive. The Egyptian king has breathed new life into Liverpool's season. 

And I must add that everybody who started this match played really well. 

The win over the reigning champions moves Liverpool up to eighth place in the Premier League table. They’re still 10 points behind Man City and 14 adrift of Premier League leaders Arsenal – but now, Liverpool’s challenge is sputtering to life!

Realistically, I don't think it changes much for them in the title race. But there’s nothing wrong to dream, right?

Covid Does Not Discriminate Between the Unvaccinated and the Vaccinated

Just three months ago, Dr. Anthony Fauci had bemoaned that the unvaccinated population is responsible for the Covid surge in the US. 

On Wednesday, he emphasized again that unvaccinated Americans remain by far the most vulnerable to severe illness and death linked to the coronavirus.

And yet, the chief medical adviser to the president acknowledged that hospitalizations are increasing among the fully vaccinated who get breakthrough cases of Covid-19. 

Help, I am confused! 

Anyway, the fellow is enthusiastically promoting booster shots. 

The booster program is meant to address studies that show waning immunity for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines about six months after a second inoculation. And those who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot have been advised to get a booster shot two months after their initial dose. 

It appears Covid is staying put in the country. Last Friday, in a White House briefing, Fauci (left) had admitted that the US would never completely eliminate Covid-19. Federal officials are merely hoping to wrest control of the virus and treat it as an endemic ailment. 

And when pressed to say what number of daily cases would be tolerable, he conceded he couldn’t give a figure but that it has to be much lower than the current rates of new cases.

The US reported an average of nearly 83,500 new Covid cases every day over the last week, a 14% rise from the week before, according to Johns Hopkins University data. 

Anyway, given all of the above, I don’t think it’s fair to just pin the blame on anti-vaxxers and/or those who choose not to receive jabs. I say it loud and clear. Covid does not discriminate between the unvaccinated and the vaccinated. 

Besides, America is called the Land of the Free and this must surely mean that its citizens should be free to decide whether they wish to be vaccinated or not! That's how US democracy works, no? 

Covid Vaccines Do Not Provide Total Immunity

Whether Malaysians are genuinely getting the vaccinations or if it's just "cucuk angin", they should still know that Covid jabs do not provide total immunity. 

In fact, I had posted this on this blog on April 15, 2021 and I think it’s pertinent to re-post it: 

Anyway, I'm making this point because of a July 15 news report in Singapore's The Straits Times about World Dream, a Dream Cruises liner that was forced to turn back to the island republic after a Covid-19 case was found on board.

The 40-year-old passenger had tested negative during the mandatory pre-departure ART (antigen rapid test) on Sunday, the day of departure. And according to a notice from Dream Cruises to passengers seen by the Singapore daily, the infected individual was reported to have already received both Covid-19 vaccination doses. 

Indeed, you can never be too careful!

And for your info, three quarters of Singapore’s Covid-19 infections in the last four weeks were among vaccinated individuals, government data shows, as a rapid ramp-up in the city-state’s inoculation leaves fewer people unvaccinated.  

As I was collecting details and getting confirmation for the above, I came across a related news report published on Monday from Canada’s CTV News that carried this intriguing headline “Some cruise lines not accepting passengers with mixed Covid-19 vaccinations”! 

Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization had in June 2021 allowed for mix-and-match vaccines, recommending that a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine can be safely combined with a second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna shots. 

They also said that while Canadians should be offered the same mRNA vaccine for their second dose as they received for their first if it's available, a second shot of either Pfizer or Moderna is still acceptable. 

But some cruise lines say they will not recognize international passengers who've mixed and matched vaccinations. 

A notice on the company's website, Norwegian Cruise Line said they will not accept mixed vaccination protocols on cruises that embark or disembark from US ports. 

The statement added that all other vessels departing from non-US ports will accept any US FDA, WHO or EMA authorized vaccines, as well as a mixed vaccine series "of only AstraZeneca-SK Bio, Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna combinations". 

For Princess Cruise Lines, guests who have received a vector vaccine, including AstraZeneca, as their first dose, followed by an mRNA vaccine "will not be considered fully vaccinated". 

However, the company will allow for passengers who received mixed mRNA vaccine doses, such as Pfizer and Moderna. 

Holland America Line and Carnival Cruise Line also currently have similar policies in place. 

Royal Caribbean reportedly removed their mixed vaccine policy from their website over the weekend, saying that Covid-19 vaccines fully approved or authorized for emergency use by a national regulatory authority or global health organization are accepted. However, the company noted this may change depending on the port of the cruise. 

While the mix-and-match approach has become common in countries such as Canada and the UK, the US FDA do not recognize Covid-19 vaccine mixing. Besides, they only approve American-made vaccines, i.e. Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. 

The WHO's chief scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan (left) on July 12 noted that there is limited data on mixing and matching vaccines and that it could be a "chaotic" situation if "citizens start deciding" when they should be taking "a second or a third or a fourth dose" and from which vaccine manufacturer.

152 Million Cases and the Blood-clotting Side Effect

One hundred and fifty-two million cases and 3.2 million deaths worldwide already. 

And India’s record breaking coronavirus surge is overwhelming the country. PM Narendra Modi has failed big-time! I hope its citizens won't be in denial!

I’m tired of hearing the oft-repeated statement vomited out by the authorities on the AstraZeneca vaccine – and also the Johnson & Johnson vaccine – that the blood-clotting disorder is a very rare side effect. If that is so, why are they holding back the said vaccines’ rollouts? 

Besides, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency had reported on Thursday an additional 41 cases of rare blood clots in people who have received doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine. 

Until April 21, the regulator had received Yellow Card reports of 209 cases of major thromboembolic events (blood clots) with thrombocytopenia (low platelet counts) in the country on receiving AstraZeneca’s vaccine. Four cases were noted on administering the second dose. 

The Yellow Card scheme is a mechanism by which people can voluntarily report any suspected adverse reactions or side effects related to the vaccine. 

Thus far, forty-one deaths had been reported following the clots in the UK – this is an increase of nine from last week’s figures, although experts say historic cases might still be feeding through to the totals. 

Statistically, the risk of developing the blood-clotting syndrome is very low – but I must re-emphasize that the exact number of cases is in flux. 

As Saad Shakir, director of the Drug Safety Research Unit in Southampton, UK pointed out researchers are relying on reports of adverse events after vaccination, and such reporting is susceptible to biases and misclassifications. 

Damn! Malaysia is still bent on offering the AstraZeneca vaccine to us!

J&J Covid Vaccine is Paused

US health agencies, namely FDA and CDC have recommended that the administration of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine be paused, after reports of severe blood clots emerged in six women. More than 6.8 million doses have been administered nationally. 

These women were between the ages of 18 and 48, with symptoms appearing six to 13 days after vaccination. One woman died, and a woman in Nebraska is hospitalized in critical care, according to the New York Times. 

Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine has also been under scrutiny elsewhere. Already, one news report today mentioned that South Africa and European Union will temporarily stop the rollout of the J&J Covid jab. 

In fact, the European Medicines Agency is investigating four cases of clotting. The concerns mirror those of drugs agencies in Europe and Australia over the AstraZeneca vaccine. 

The other two vaccines that make up the majority of US supply, i.e. from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, it is claimed that there has been no significant safety concerns thus far. 

Unlike vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna, J&J vaccine requires only one dose to provoke immunity, and can be stored in a common refrigerator. Both Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccine require ultra-cold storage and a two-dose regiment.

FYI, Johnson & Johnson is a US health care company, but the vaccine was developed mainly by their pharmaceutical branch in Belgium, and is also known as Janssen. 

Anyway, health agencies continue to maintain the blood clotting issue is “extremely rare”. Still, that rarity may in fact be part of the concern, as it may make it more difficult to recognize and treat. 

The pause is a blow to Johnson & Johnson, which only recently was forced to discard between 13 million and 15 million doses of vaccine after a federal contractor botched doses.

Issues associated with vaccines don’t seem to end. I guess that’s not surprising given that these vaccines were rushed in order to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

58 Million Cases

And now, the pandemic has reached 58 million infections worldwide. 

Georgia and Croatia have joined the growing list of countries that have more than 100,000 coronavirus cases – and bringing the tally to 61. Combined, these countries contribute 95.2% and 96.3% of cases and deaths globally.

 

Surely, vaccines afford us optimism and even hope to countries ravaged by Covid-19. 

But don’t expect that just because they are available, they are accessible to every country. Besides the supply and demand issue, not every country can afford them. 

Especially the vaccines developed by Western companies. 

I read that Moderna are pitching for $37 a dose, which is way above others such as Pfizer at $20 and Johnson & Johnson at $10. 

Moreover, these vaccines may have been developed with the help of the federally funded National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Health and Human Services. Because of the “high” price and because of their links to the US government, the rest of the world may just have to wait before they can get their hands on them. 

Truth be told, low-income countries should look elsewhere. 

Sure, the UN Covax program will subsidize rollouts of coronavirus vaccines to poorer countries – but at the price Moderna want to charge, that may prove too costly. That explains why much of the world is turning to China and Russia for access to vaccines. 

The US and their money-minded companies must know that vaccines must help everyone. As the Director-General of the World Health Organization has said, it’s not over until it’s over everywhere.

Covid-19 Vaccine Update 2

Safety concerns are plaguing Covid-19 clinical trials. 

In my blog post titled “Covid-19 Vaccine Update” published September 13, 2020, I had highlighted trials of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca were paused because of a UK patient experiencing a side-effect. 

And now, Johnson & Johnson announced on Monday they were pausing clinical trials of another vaccine candidate due to an unexplained illness in a study participant. 

On the following day, rival Eli Lilly and Company said they too were halting their coronavirus antibody trials because of safety concerns. 

If you must know, there are currently more than 100 Covid-19 vaccine candidates under development, with a number of these in the final human trial phase. We should know by now that it is not always smooth sailing. 

BTW, China has agreed Tuesday to include Malaysia on a list of priority recipients for a Covid-19 vaccine once it is successfully developed. It has been claimed that the vaccine could even be ready for use by the general public as early as November!

Beauty Products That Embrace Racism

I think it’s right that Johnson & Johnson have arrived at a decision to stop selling skin-whitening creams popular in Asia. 

Their products have come under renewed social pressure in recent weeks amid an increasing strident global debate about racial inequality. 

Already, they are discontinuing their Neutrogena Fine Fairness line. And a company spokesperson told Reuters on Friday they will cease selling their Clean & Clear Fairness products in India too. 

The healthcare company said they would no longer produce or ship the products, but that they might still appear on store shelves until stocks run out. 

India is said to be one of the fastest growing markets for skin-whitening soaps and cream. The "fairness" (an euphemism for "whiteness" really) market generates sales of $432 million and it is growing annually by 17 percent. 

And Unilever's Fair and Lovely skin whitening cream has the largest share of the cosmetic market in India. Their commercials carry a makeover narrative that depicts dark-skinned women transforming into light-skinned women will indeed spawn success in romance and careers.

The skin-whitening market that includes Garnier's White Complete, L'Oréal's White Perfect, and Ponds' White Beauty recruit light-skinned Bollywood superstars – the likes of Priyanka Chopra, Aishwarya Rai, and Hrithik Roshan – to sell fantasies of epidermal transformation as the basis for a happy and rewarding life. 

All the world’s biggest personal care companies, including Unilever, Procter & Gamble and L’Oreal under their respective brands Fair & Lovely, Olay and Garnier are hawking lotions that promise to lighten (or brighten) skin. 

According to Quartz, this is a $10-billion-dollar global skin-lightening market that aggressively peddles dozens of high- and low-end skin-lightening products to consumers in Asia and Africa. 

Whether we care to admit it or not, these products only serve to reinforce the flighty notion that fair skin is the beauty standard. A perfect life from perfect skin – but only for those of the ‘right’ (read, ‘fair’) shade – is the message and mindset that’s being communicated to the world. 

This has created a multibillion-dollar industry in cosmetic creams and invasive procedures such as skin bleaching, chemical peels, laser treatments, steroid cocktails, “whitening” pills and intravenous injections – all with varying effectiveness and health risks. 

It’s more than a bias, it’s a downright dangerous cultural obsession. 

Sunil Bhatia (right), a professor of human development at Connecticut College, USA, in his piece about deep-rooted internalised racism and social hierarchies based on skin color published on April 17, 2017 in US News & World Report said emphatically: “This is not bias. This is racism”. 

This darker skin stigma, and rigid cultural perception that correlates lighter skin tone with beauty and “personal success” is wrong! 

And I blame it on the Western media's dominance across the world where they preach "whiteness" as an idealized image and which has become transnational. 

The fact that the non-white population embraces it so readily is really sad and hard to swallow because it means they are ever willing to surrender their self-respect and dignity as persons of “color”.