Explanation From Original OP/Artist:

FDA: The Food and Drug Administration is the American institution responsible for overseeing food products and medicines.

The Morhange Talcum Powder Affair is a public health scandal that broke out in France in 1972. At its origin was a baby powder marketed by the Morhange brand, accidentally contaminated with hexachlorophene — a substance with antiseptic properties but also neurotoxic at high doses. As the product had been applied to very young infants, it triggered a massive poisoning: 36 children died and more than 168 were affected, with cases of coma and severe neurological damage.

The investigation established that a handling error had led to the incorporation of approximately 6% hexachlorophene into the talcum powder — a concentration far beyond any admissible threshold — thereby turning an everyday care product into a poison for infants. The toxicity of hexachlorophene was not unknown to scientific authorities: the FDA had conducted studies on mice that revealed characteristic brain lesions, described as the brain having turned into a sponge. The FDA had moreover issued repeated warnings as early as 1971 regarding the use of this substance.

On the judicial front, the affair gave rise to prosecutions and the indictment of several industrial and technical managers at the Morhange company. The most troubling aspect of the judicial handling of the case lies in the unequal treatment of the families: some were compensated through out-of-court settlements in exchange for dropping their legal proceedings — having little choice given their financial hardship — while others, refusing this compromise, had to face years of lengthy legal proceedings alone. It is worth noting that Robert Badinter represented the industrial defendants.

On the regulatory and public health front, the affair left a lasting mark and represented a decisive turning point: it led to tighter oversight of cosmetics and products intended for infants in France, and more broadly, to a collective awareness of the necessity of strictly regulating the placing of such products on the market.

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