Johnson & Johnson’s 2010 continues to stink — literally — as the company announced yet another recall of its Tylenol painkiller over complaints of a musty/moldy odor. [More]
johnson & johnson
FDA Does Spit-Take Over Mouthwash Labels Saying They Fight Gum Disease
By 9.29.10
The FDA just smacked the taste out of the mouths of Johnson & Johnson, Walgreens and CVS over advertising that their mouthwash fights gum disease, without having science to prove it. [More]
Plant Under Investigation Giving Johnson & Johnson Indigestion
By 7.25.10
If the shuttering of a Tylenol plant gave Johnson & Johnson a headache, this most recent investigation into a factory that makes Pepcid, Immodium and Mylanta is surely giving the company a case of sour stomach (get it? Medicine jokes!).The Lancaster, Pa. plant was issued a Form 483 by the FDA earlier this month, and now a new report indicates 12 violations of good manufacturing processes. [More]
Another Johnson & Johnson Plant Under Investigation
By 7.17.10
The hits just keep on coming for Johnson & Johnson — on the heels of the news that the company would be closing down and laying off some 300 employees at the Philadelphia-area factory that was churning out musty, yucky pills, another plant in Lancaster, Pa., failed to receive a clean bill of health after an inspection by the Food and Drug Administration. [More]
Factory That Made Moldy, Barfy Recalled Tylenol Closes For Upgrades, 300 Lose Jobs
By 7.16.10
Johnson & Johnson announced late yesterday that they will lay off most of the employees of the Philadelphia-area factory that produced the controversial musty, stinky pills recalled earlier this year. Staff have been on full pay and benefits since the plant shut down in April, but the controversial (that is: filthy) facility will close down for upgrades until some undefined point in 2011. [More]
Johnson & Johnson Hit With Fraud And Racketeering Lawsuits Over Tylenol Recalls
By 7.12.10
The only thing more certain than stinky Tylenol this year is that there would be a lawsuit from consumers at some point, and now it’s happened. Five times, in fact. They’ve been filed against Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit and seek class action status, and accuse J&J/McNeil of failing to properly recall the bad drugs and of failing to adequately compensate consumers. [More]
More "Moldy, Musty" Tylenol Recalled
By 7.9.10
That stink coming from your medicine cabinet may just be Tylenol, Motrin or Benadryl, according to the latest recall from Johnson & Johnson. The company is recalling 21 additional lots of drugs, including batches of Tylenol, Children’s Tylenol, Benadryl and Motrin. The company says “the risk of adverse medical events is remote.” [More]
Shuttered Tylenol Plant Had Troubling Pattern of Problems
By 6.24.10
Should Tylenol have been recalled sooner? FDA inspection reports going back to 2003 paint a queasy picture. [More]
More Moldy Barfy Benadryl And Tylenol Recalled
By 6.17.10
Oopsy-poopsies! Johnson and Johnson forgot to recall four “lots” of Benadryl Allergy Ultratabs and one lot of Extra Strength Tylenol Rapid Release Gels along with the dozens already recalled in Jan. J&J took the pills off the market after consumers complained they smelled moldy and in a few cases, caused vomiting and diarrhea. [More]
Johnson & Johnson Hired Fake Shoppers To Buy Up Bad Motrin, Avoid Public Recall
By 6.14.10
Ever since the FDA and Congress started asking Johnson & Johnson to explain why it keeps recalling medicine, there have been references to an unpublicized “recall” that happened in November 2008. Last month, at a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, a J&J executive swore that the company didn’t mean to mislead anyone. It turns out that wasn’t exactly accurate: Bloomberg has obtained emails from J&J’s company, McNeil Consumer Healthcare, that show executives knew the secret recall would trigger an FDA reaction if the agency got wind of its full scope. [More]
PediaCare Pulled From Stores, Victim Of Latest Tylenol Recall
By 6.1.10
Blacksmith Brands bought the PediaCare line of children’s cough and cold medicines from Johnson & Johnson last November. Unfortunately, the company hadn’t switched production over to a different facility, so last Friday it had to recall nearly 100,000 bottles that are guilty by association. There have been no complaints so far about the products, but when your manufacturer is under investigation by the FDA’s criminal division you tend to want to play it safe. [More]
Tylenol Recall Factory Was Staffed With Undertrained Temps
By 5.31.10
The manufacturing plant that has been the cause of Johnson & Johnson’s latest in a string of recalls has already been described as dirty and poorly maintained. It turns out that it was also staffed with temps and contract employees who weren’t properly trained, according to tax records and an FDA inspection report filed earlier this year. [More]
FDA Announces Widespread Investigation Of McNeil After Tylenol Recalls
By 5.19.10
Remember the recalled liquid Tylenol and other children’s medicines last month? Or the stinky drugs that were recalled back in January? Or the children’s Tylenol that was recalled last September? The FDA remembers, which is probably why it’s “conducting a company-wide investigation of McNeil Consumer Healthcare’s drug manufacturing practices to determine whether similar problems exist throughout the company.” Also, a date has now been set (May 27) for the House Committee hearing where the CEO and chairman of parent company Johnson & Johnson are expected to testify. [More]
FDA: McNeil Plant That Made Recalled Tylenol Is A Dirty Stinkpot With No Quality Control
By 5.5.10
One of the implied promises of a brand name, especially when it comes to drugs, is you can expect higher quality, but maybe that doesn’t apply when it comes to McNeil products.The FDA says the plant that produced the recently recalled children’s Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl, was using raw materials that were contaminated with bacteria. The plant also lacked adequate quality-control procedures and was dirty. So far none of the recalled medicine has tested positive for bacterial contamination, but the FDA report suggests that the contaminated material was used to make the recalled lots. The plant has been shut down indefinitely. [More]
Children's Tylenol, Motrin, Other Medications Recalled
By 5.1.10
Head to your medicine cupboards and start checking out the children’s meds you might have there — the Food and Drug Administration announced today Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare Unit has begun a voluntary recall of various medicines because of manufacturing discrepancies. [More]
Tylenol Voluntarily Recalls Children's Medicines
By 9.25.09
Concerned about bacterial contamination, Tylenol is recalling certain children’s liquid medication products manufactured during a certain period in 2008. While the risk of infection is low when the medicines are ingested, still: eww, bacteria.
FDA: Hey America, Stop Overdosing On Painkillers!
By 6.30.09
Look, we know this recession is tough and all, but you’ve gotta lay off the NyQuil and Theraflu or the FDA will stuff them behind a counter, ok? Seriously, an advisory panel is meeting today, and already voted to reduce the maximum daily dose of Tylenol and other painkillers. They might even slap scary “black box” warnings on all over-the-counter painkillers to dissuade you acetaminophen addicts from overdosing.
Baby Products: Now With Formaldehyde!
By 3.14.09
More than half of the baby products recently tested by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics were found to contain trace levels of formaldehyde and dioxane. Though the study didn’t accuse Johnson & Johnson of dumping barrels of the potential carcinogens directly into their baby products, the dangerous chemicals can form during the manufacturing process as other ingredients break down. The full list of 48 tested baby shampoos, lotions, soaps, and wipes—including some well-known products you probably have on your shelf—inside.
