‘A call to conscience’: Former CJI Chandrachud at launch of The Indian Express journalist’s book

The former CJI referred to the Tylenol crisis of 1982 by J&J, often referred to as the gold standard in crisis management, where Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide had killed several in Chicago. The former CJI noted that at the time, the company had prioritised public trust and public safety over profit, a very different response to what has been documented in Sheriff’s book, published by Juggernaut.

The book documents whistleblower and patient accounts of the faulty Articular Surface Replacement (ASR) prosthesis by J&J. At the launch were several patients who were affected by these implants.

Retired Justice Chandrachud said that the book “paints a disturbing picture of how J&J operated in India — from the sale of faulty hip implants which left hundreds in agony, to bureaucratic inertia and corporate opacity that frustrated justice and accountability.”

He said it is “not just a chronicle of corporate misdeeds” but provides a “documented account of institutional failure”.

“This book is not just about one company. It is about the broader dangers of corporatisation without conscience. It is a reminder about what happens when multinational giants enter markets with weak enforcement and vast inequality and exploit the gap instead of elevating standards. The book is about how medical ethics can be eroded by commercial incentives and how your and my body can become collateral in someone else’s financial bottomline,” he said.

The book launch was followed by Sheriff in conversation with Malini Aisola of the Hip Implants Patient Support Group (HIPS), a Senior Research Fellow of the George Institute for Global Health, India.