No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An explosive, deeply reported exposé of Johnson & Johnson, one of America’s oldest and most trusted pharmaceutical companies—from an award-winning investigative journalist
“A damning portrait.”—Associated Press
“A page-turning drama that raises life-or-death questions about the world’s largest healthcare conglomerate.”—Jonathan Eig, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of King: A Life
FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD AND THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE • A CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY AND NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
One day in 2004, Gardiner Harris, a pharmaceutical reporter for The New York Times, was early for a flight and sat down at an airport bar. He struck up a conversation with the woman on the barstool next to him, who happened to be a drug sales rep for Johnson & Johnson. Her horrific story about unethical sales practices and the devastating impact they’d had on her family fundamentally changed the nature of how Harris would cover the company—and the entire pharmaceutical industry—for the Times. His subsequent investigations and ongoing research since that very first conversation led to this book—a blistering exposé of a trusted American institution and the largest healthcare conglomerate in the world.
Harris takes us light-years away from the company’s image as the child-friendly “baby company” as he uncovers reams of evidence showing decades of deceitful and dangerous corporate practices that have threatened the lives of millions. He covers multiple disasters: lies and cover-ups regarding the link of Johnson’s Baby Powder to cancer, the surprising dangers of Tylenol, a criminal campaign to sell antipsychotics that have cost countless lives, a popular drug used to support cancer patients that actually increases the risk that cancer tumors will grow, and deceptive marketing that accelerated opioid addictions through their product Duragesic (fentanyl) that rival even those of the Sacklers and Purdue Pharma.
Filled with shocking and infuriating but utterly necessary revelations, No More Tears is a landmark work of investigative journalism that lays bare the deeply rooted corruption behind the image of babies bathing with a smile.
“A damning portrait.”—Associated Press
“A page-turning drama that raises life-or-death questions about the world’s largest healthcare conglomerate.”—Jonathan Eig, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of King: A Life
FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD AND THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE • A CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY AND NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
One day in 2004, Gardiner Harris, a pharmaceutical reporter for The New York Times, was early for a flight and sat down at an airport bar. He struck up a conversation with the woman on the barstool next to him, who happened to be a drug sales rep for Johnson & Johnson. Her horrific story about unethical sales practices and the devastating impact they’d had on her family fundamentally changed the nature of how Harris would cover the company—and the entire pharmaceutical industry—for the Times. His subsequent investigations and ongoing research since that very first conversation led to this book—a blistering exposé of a trusted American institution and the largest healthcare conglomerate in the world.
Harris takes us light-years away from the company’s image as the child-friendly “baby company” as he uncovers reams of evidence showing decades of deceitful and dangerous corporate practices that have threatened the lives of millions. He covers multiple disasters: lies and cover-ups regarding the link of Johnson’s Baby Powder to cancer, the surprising dangers of Tylenol, a criminal campaign to sell antipsychotics that have cost countless lives, a popular drug used to support cancer patients that actually increases the risk that cancer tumors will grow, and deceptive marketing that accelerated opioid addictions through their product Duragesic (fentanyl) that rival even those of the Sacklers and Purdue Pharma.
Filled with shocking and infuriating but utterly necessary revelations, No More Tears is a landmark work of investigative journalism that lays bare the deeply rooted corruption behind the image of babies bathing with a smile.
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Community Reviews
No More Tears by Gardiner Harris is an investigative exposé that examines decades of corporate misconduct by Johnson & Johnson, one of the world’s most trusted pharmaceutical companies. He details how the company repeatedly concealed evidence that its most popular products caused serious harm. Drawing on court documents, whistleblower accounts, and internal records, the book reveals how profit, regulatory failures, and public trust intersected with devastating consequences for patients.
Honestly, this book was scarier than a lot of the thrillers I read. I’m giving it 3 stars…not because it isn’t good, but because it’s not “exciting” in a traditional sense; instead, it’s deeply unsettling in a slow, real-world way that sticks with you. What makes it so frightening is knowing this isn’t fiction; No More Tears exposes just how deeply corrupt and profit-driven Big Pharma can be, often at the expense of public health and safety. I chose the audiobook because sitting down to read something this dense didn’t feel realistic for me, and hearing the information laid out made it even more impactful. It’s fascinating, disturbing, and sobering, and while it’s not a page-turner, it’s the kind of book that makes you look at everyday products (and the companies behind them) very differently.
Trigger warnings: Corporate negligence, medical malpractice, pharmaceutical corruption, serious illness, cancer, patient harm, child endangerment, infant injury and death, drug-related harm, addiction, disability, wrongful death, ethical misconduct, regulatory failure
This book does cover the major known events of Johnson & Johnson that caused a scandal but I wouldn't say it is the dark secrets that uncovers anything new. I enjoyed the book as a review but there was not any peak interest nor twists nor new insights that make this book emotionally reactive to the company. I think if it was perhaps written a decade or two before, maybe, but people take self research and education to a new level so these topics weren't ground breaking.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 stars
There was a whole lot of information to take in with this exposé, but it was so worth the read.
I personally would have preferred a little more of a straightforward linear timeline which may have helped with some repetitive parts. The investigative journalism; however, is top notch and the balls it took to bring this all to light in such a scathing way is commendable.
The depth of deception and inhumane practices is utterly shocking and horrific. Millions of lives were impacted in a negative way by the actions and inactions of this pharmaceutical juggernaut; the majority of which could have been prevented if those in power had done the right thing.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Penguin Random House for this digital Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.
There was a whole lot of information to take in with this exposé, but it was so worth the read.
I personally would have preferred a little more of a straightforward linear timeline which may have helped with some repetitive parts. The investigative journalism; however, is top notch and the balls it took to bring this all to light in such a scathing way is commendable.
The depth of deception and inhumane practices is utterly shocking and horrific. Millions of lives were impacted in a negative way by the actions and inactions of this pharmaceutical juggernaut; the majority of which could have been prevented if those in power had done the right thing.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Penguin Random House for this digital Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.
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