History of Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886 by brothers Robert Wood Johnson I, James Wood Johnson, and Edward Mead Johnson in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The company’s early products centred on sterile surgical dressings developed in response to the emerging understanding of antiseptic practice. J&J’s ready-to-use sterile bandages reduced infection rates in surgical settings and established the company as a supplier to hospitals and pharmacies across the United States.
In the 20th century, Johnson & Johnson expanded into consumer health products. Brand introductions included Band-Aid adhesive bandages in 1920, Johnson’s Baby products, and Tylenol, which became one of the company’s highest-revenue items. The 1982 Tylenol tampering crisis, in which seven people died after products were laced with cyanide, led J&J to introduce tamper-evident packaging and became a reference case in crisis management.
J&J grew into a diversified healthcare company with segments in consumer health, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. In 2023, the company completed the spin-off of its consumer health division as a separate publicly traded company named Kenvue, retaining the pharmaceutical and medical technology operations under the Johnson & Johnson name.
Johnson & Johnson faced significant legal exposure in two areas in the 2010s and 2020s. The company reached multi-billion dollar settlements over its role in the opioid crisis, having been accused of contributing to the over-marketing of prescription painkillers. It also faced tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging that talcum powder products caused ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, disputes that led J&J to pursue a contested bankruptcy strategy for its talc-related liabilities through a subsidiary structure.