Tylenol Products Recalled
Tylenol products have been recalled due to a moldy smell that has been reported to make users sick. Johnson&Johnson's McNeil Consumer Healthcare Products recalled batches of Tylenol Arthritis Caplets in November due to the smell, which caused nausea, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea. Approximately three weeks ago, the recall was expanded to include Tylenol Arthritis Caplets. Now, the company has broadened the recall to include batches of regular and extra-strength Tylenol children's Tylenol, eight-hour Tylenol, Tylenol arthritis, Tylenol PM, children's Motrin, Motrin IB, Benadryl Rolaids, Simply Sleep, and St. Joseph's aspirin. Caplet and geltab products sold in the Americas, the United Arab Emirates, and Fiji were recalled.
The Food and Drug Administration(FDA), has been very critical of the company’s handling of the problem. The FDA said about 70 people were either sickened by the odor, or noticed it.
The FDA says McNeil knew of the problem in early 2008 but made only a limited investigation. The FDA reports that McNeil did not act as swiftly as required in investigating and recalling the products.
The FDA sent McNeil a warning letter for violating manufacturing standards and failing to report and investigate the problem in a timely way. Johnson&Johnson has 15 days to respond. The FDA says it wants an explanation as to why the problem was not made public sooner.
Johnson&Johnson says the smell is caused by small amounts of a chemical associated with the treatment of wooden pallets. The FDA said the chemical can leach into the air, and traced it to a facility in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico.
Also on Friday, Federal prosecutors in Boston said Johnson&Johnson paid tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks so nursing homes would put more patients on its schizophrenia drug, Risperdal. The company gave special rebates to Omnicare Inc., the country's biggest company providing pharmacy services to nursing homes, in return for recommendations from its pharmacists that patients use
