The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform — the same crew behind the Toyota recall hearings — has announced that it has opened an investigation into the recent recall of Children’s Tylenol and several other brands of kids’ medicine.

From the announcement:

FDA and McNeil Consumer Healthcare have given conflicting accounts of the circumstances surrounding the recall, including what prompted the recall and how serious the recall is. In addition, as this is the third recall of Tylenol products in less than a year, the lawmakers are questioning the adequacy of FDA’s inspection procedures and whether McNeil failed to investigate consumer complaints that could have identified the contamination problems.

“We are deeply concerned about the recall of popular pediatric medications widely used by infants and children across the country,” said Committee Chairman Ed Towns and Ranking Member Darrell Issa in a joint statement. “When a recall of this nature occurs, it is our responsibility to bring attention to the issue as a public service and to fulfill our oversight responsibility by asking tough questions about the conditions of the manufacturing plant and controls put in place by the drug company’s management, and about whether FDA’s inspection and recall procedures were sufficient… This is an issue we cannot afford to ignore.”

The Committee says they will be making requests to both the FDA and McNeil for information and that a hearing should be expected “in the coming weeks.”

Towns, Issa Announce Investigation into Recall of Popular Pediatric Medication [Committee on Oversight & Government Reform]

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