Policy

An open letter to J&J Chairman & CEO Alex Gorsky

Mr. Alex Gorsky needs to provide a more reasoned explanation for his decision to remain on President Trump's American Manufacturing Council and what he can achieve even as five CEOs have departed following Mr. Trump's response to Charlottesville.

President Donald Trump (C) delivers opening remarks during a meeting with (L-R) Wendell Weeks, Corning; Alex Gorsky, Johnson & Johnson; Michael Dell, Dell Technologies, Mario Longhi, US Steel, and other business leaders on Jan. 23.

 

There is an important update to this story. Please see below:

Dear Mr. Gorsky,

As a leader of an American company whose brand influence extends far beyond this nation’s borders, I am wondering how you arrived at the decision to remain on Donald Trump’s American Manufacturing Council.

You are choosing to stay on even as five of your compatriots have announced their departures following Mr. Trump’s bewildering response to the horrors of Charlottesville.

The statement that the company you lead put out in your name appears to be naive and not particularly well-reasoned.

Here’s what you said, per news reports about your decision to stay on:

Ours is an important voice on healthcare, one that global leaders at every level, in and out of government, need to hear.

If we aren’t in the room advocating for global health as a top priority, if we aren’t there standing up for our belief in diversity and inclusion, or if we fail to speak out when the situation demands it, then we have abdicated our Credo responsibility. We must engage if we hope to change the world and those who lead it.

By engaging, you hope to change the world and those who lead it. It’s a noble credo to be sure except when you consider that one of those who “lead” the world today is Mr. Trump.

You want to change him, sir?

You might as well take on the challenge of changing the immutable laws of nature. However important, your voice will be drowned out by the only voice that seems to matter to our president: his own (and perhaps those who appear on bended knee).

Can one achieve good policy on global health when the principles of the principal character are suspect?

Nearly two years ago, J&J posted this in an attempt to help the world know Alex Gorsky, the man. In that post listing eight things we didn’t know about you, this was no. 6:

He believes wholeheartedly in workplace equality and diversity.

Tiki torches in a university town may not fall under the umbrella of diversity in the workplace but those torches of hate blaze unseen in the hearts that beat in the workplace too. Something that Mr. Trump seems unable to acknowledge.

The question to ask is what you can achieve through your continued presence on the Council. You have met Mr. Trump. Perhaps you believe work can be done in the background that is meaningful to advance healthcare in this country and globally despite the routine 140-character distractions and press conferences run amok.

If that is true, we need more than a hastily-formulated statement to quell the queries of my journalistic brethren eager to know if you are staying on. We need to know what you think the Council and you can achieve.

The readers of MedCity News and I await that reasoned explanation.

Until then, sir, you are known by the company you keep.

Sincerely,

Arundhati Parmar
Editor, MedCity News

P.S. – As a child growing up in India and long before I knew anything about America or desired to move here, I knew Johnson & Johnson.

Update: Johnson & Johnson provided this statement below as Mr. Trump announced that he is disbanding the Council. A spokeswoman confirmed that the decision was made earlier today before the president’s tweet disbanding the group.

August 16, 2017

Johnson & Johnson has a responsibility to remain engaged as important policy decisions are made. That hasn’t changed. The President’s most recent statements equating those who are motivated by race-based hate with those who stand up against hatred is unacceptable and has changed our decision to participate in the White House Manufacturing Advisory Council.

We will continue to support, advocate and champion policies and programs that make this country and the world healthier, stronger and more united.

– Alex Gorsky, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Johnson & Johnson

 

Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

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