Tylenol maker to pay $25
million for selling metal-contaminated drugs
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[March 11, 2015]
By Lindsay Dunsmuir
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Johnson & Johnson
subsidiary pleaded guilty on Tuesday to selling liquid medicine
contaminated with metal and agreed to pay $25 million to resolve the
case, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesday.
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The subsidiary, McNeil Consumer Healthcare, pleaded guilty to one
federal criminal charge in the case.
In 2010, the company launched mass recalls of certain children's
over-the-counter-medicines, including Infants' Tylenol and
Children's Motrin, made at its Fort Washington, Pennsylvania plant.
It was the latest in a series of recalls at the time. There were
far-reaching multiple recalls from 2008 to 2010 involving hundreds
of millions of bottles and packages of consumer brands such as
Tylenol, Motrin, Rolaids, Benadryl and other products due to faulty
manufacturing. The recalls kept widely used products such as
Children's Tylenol off pharmacy shelves and seriously tarnished
J&J's once-sterling reputation.
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In addition to metal particles getting into liquid medicines, there
were moldy odors and labeling problems. For example, the label for
Sudafed allergy tablets incorrectly repeated the word "not" to say
"do not not divide, crush, chew or dissolve the tablet."
In the case involving metal particles, the troubles began in May
2009 when a consumer complained after noticing "black specks" in the
bottom of a bottle of Infants' Tylenol. The specks were found to be
nickel and chromium particles.
In 2010, Johnson & Johnson's U.S. consumer product sales fell by
more than 19 percent, a decrease of $900 million. The rash of
consumer medicine recalls in 2009 and 2010 were largely responsible
for the first back-to-back years of company sales declines since
World War Two.
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Carol Goodrich, a spokeswoman for McNeil Consumer Healthcare, said
the plea agreement "closes a chapter" and that the company has "been
implementing enhanced quality and oversight standards across its
entire business."
As part of the agreement, McNeil also agreed to further safety
measures before reopening its Fort Washington facility.
(Additional reporting by Bill Berkrot and Ransdell Pierson; Editing
by Jonathan Oatis)
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