Former Johnson & Johnson Vice President Dr Sam Maldonado has garnered immense backlash online after reportedly calling for the killing of all Palestinians. This comes against the backdrop of the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. At the time of writing this article, the established pharmaceutical company had not released a public statement addressing the allegations against its former VP.
Trigger Warning: The following article contains anti-Palestine sentiments. Reader’s discretion is advised.
The social media page of the popular non-profit organization Stop Zionist Hate took to their official X (formerly Twitter) account on December 25 to share a snippet of what Sam Maldonado allegedly said. It was reported that the executive took to LinkedIn to comment:
“So, does this mean that all Palestinians are terrorists and they all should be killed? If that is the case, now I understand why the bombing is how it is. Kill all!!!”
While referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Maldonado reportedly said in another LinkedIn comment:
“This is perhaps the order Bibi received from the Lord regarding Palestinians. People may call this ethnic cleansing or genocide but the Chosen People of God know that this is obedience to God. God has to be obeyed or else…”
Not only were netizens outraged by his alleged statements, but the X account of “Islamic Affairs” also uploaded a video of Dr Sam Maldonado’s alleged statements on the social networking site and described it as “horrifying.”
Dr Sam Maldonado is an independent consultant
At the time of writing this article, Dr Maldonado had deleted his LinkedIn account. However, Opoyi revealed that Maldonado had over 30 years of experience in the drug development industry. He also boasts an impressive tenure of 22 years at Johnson & Johnson. He joined the company in 2000 while working as the Director of Paediatric Drug Development at the Janssen Research Foundation.
He obtained his MD degree from the National University of Honduras. He completed his pediatric residency at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, USA. He also holds a master’s degree in public health from George Washington University.
Maldonado has played a key role in multiple pediatric development projects, including the Child Health Innovation Leadership Development, the FDA Paediatric Advisory Committee, the International Conference of Harmonization, the Neonatal Consortium, the Institution for Advanced Clinical Trials for Children, and the Pan-European Paediatric Clinical Trials consortium amongst others.
Dr Sam Maldonado also worked at Boehringer-Ingelheim to develop anti-retroviral drugs. He has also served as a Medical Officer with the FDA to formulate Paediatric Exclusivity Laws.
“I am traumatized from this”: Netizens take to X to call for Johnson & Johnson boycott
Internet users were enraged after learning about Dr Maldonado’s reported statements. While many took to X to relentlessly attack him, others announced that they were boycotting Johnson & Johnson brands, some of which include- Benadryl, Neosporin, Stayfree, Tylenol, Aveeno, Neutrogena, Listerine, Tucks, Band-Aid, Acuvue, Polysporin, Compeed, Lactaid and Pepcid amongst others.
A few reactions to his alleged statements shared by Stop Zionist Hate on X read:
At the time of writing this article, Johnson & Johnson had not addressed the allegations against Maldonado.
