6 Nestlé

Since the 1970s, Nestlé has been criticized for aggressively marketing its baby formula. Nestlé is said to have indirectly caused the death of numerous babies in developing countries due to severe diarrhea. This is because many such countries do not have clean drinking water, and by actively discouraging new mothers from breastfeeding, Nestlé was essentially forcing babies to consume contaminated water. 

Nestlé first came under fire in the 1970s for its baby formula marketing, over claims that it was actively discouraging new mothers from breastfeeding. This drew in a lot of criticism, especially in developing countries, because breastfeeding was better and cheaper than using formula. 

Moreover, since many of these mothers did not always have access to clean drinking water, they were forced to mix the formula in contaminated water. This would then cause their young children to suffer from severe diarrhea, with many even losing their lives. 

In the 1980s, these accusations led to a mass boycott of Nestlé and its products in the US. Although this was eventually lifted, Nestlé has continued to chart the press waters for controversial reasons. In 2007, The Guardian reported that despite the 1981 international code on baby formula marketing, Nestlé was still known to aggressively market their formula in developing countries like Bangladesh. (1, 2)

7 Johnson & Johnson

In 2018, Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $4.7 billion to 22 women and their families over claims that they had developed ovarian cancer from using the company’s baby powder. Internal documents from the company revealed that they were aware of their talcum powder containing “rather high” amounts of asbestos. However, J&J chose to keep this information quiet, leading to the deaths of such women. 

During the late 1990s, a woman named Darlene Coker sued Johnson & Johnson over claims that their baby powder had given her mesothelioma, cancer mostly found in people exposed to asbestos.

J&J’s baby powder was thought to be the culprit since talc and asbestos are often found together in nature, with the latter contaminating talc ores. However, this lawsuit remained unsuccessful due to a lack of evidence.

In 2012, J&J was again sued by more women who claimed to have gotten ovarian cancer from using the baby powder on their privates.

During this case, the company was forced to reveal internal documents that showed that since the 1970s, they had known about the baby powder containing asbestos. Despite this, the company had failed to notify the FDA. In 2018, J&J was ordered to pay $4.7 billion in damages to 22 such women. (1, 2)

8 Equifax 

The credit-checking company, Equifax, was the subject of a major hacking incident in 2017 where the data of more than 140 million Americans was compromised. It then came to light that the company was aware of a vulnerability in their software that they neglected to fix. Citing this incident, many have demanded more stringent laws to govern such companies. 

In May 2017, the credit-checking company Equifax was subjected to a major hacking incident. This breach exposed the names, birth dates, social security numbers, driving license numbers, and addresses of 145.5 million Americans and 8,000 Canadians.

Later, it came to light that this was a result of the company failing to fix a major security vulnerability on one of their web applications. 

On March 15, Equifax’s information security department had run a vulnerability check and found nothing concerning, despite warnings from the US Homeland Security Department. As a result, the vulnerability was not fixed until it was too late.

The hack had also gone unnoticed until July 2017, at which point the web application was disabled. In the months following the incident, the company drew even more criticism over a policy that forced anyone using their breach monitoring system to give up their right to sue. (1, 2)

9 McKinsey 

In 2013, the global consultancy firm, McKinsey, came under great scrutiny for its role in America’s opioid crisis. McKinsey had advised Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of the highly-addictive Oxycontin, to “turbocharge” the sales of the drug by targeting doctors who already prescribed a high amount of it. The company later announced that it would no longer advise clients on opioid-related matters. 

Since the 1990s, the US has been witnessing a major opioid crisis that has claimed at least 450,000 lives through addiction and overdose. Authorities have held Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of the highly-addictive Oxycontin, responsible for fuelling this crisis with their deceptive marketing techniques.

The pharmaceutical company has since been indicted on various charges regarding the misrepresentation of the dangers of Oxycontin.

In 2013, the global consultancy firm McKinsey also came under fire for similar reasons. It was revealed that McKinsey had advised Purdue Pharma on how to “turbocharge” the sales of the painkiller.

They were accused of encouraging medical sales representatives to target doctors who already overprescribed the drug. In October 2021, McKinsey admitted to paying doctors off and promoting Oxycontin without any “legitimate medical purpose” The company then announced that it would no longer advise clients on opioid-related matters. (1, 2)

10 Bayer 

Bayer once had to pay $300 million as compensation funds for hemophiliacs who had contracted AIDS from using their contaminated products. In the 1980s, despite knowing the connection between HIV infections and blood transfusions, Bayer collected blood samples from prisons and nightclubs without proper screening. This then led to about 20,000 of their users contracting HIV.

Bayer is one of the top manufacturers of Factor VIII, a compound that is essential for the health of hemophiliacs. This product is developed from human blood plasma and helps a hemophiliacs’ blood clot normally. In the 1980s, Bayer came into a major scandal over their HIV-contaminated Factor VIII that led to thousands of hemophiliacs dying from AIDS. 

At the time, the world was only beginning to understand the severity of HIV and AIDS. Nevertheless, there were federal checks put in place in the US to prevent such occurrences. Bayer, however, ignored these guidelines and recruited prisoners, intravenous drug users, and high-risk gay men to collect blood samples.

These samples were used to manufacture Factor VIII that was then distributed worldwide. In 1997, Bayer was ordered to pay $300 million to various hemophilia compensation funds that would help the 20,000 or so people who contracted HIV from their products. (1, 2)