The Johnson & Johnson's Tylenol Controversies
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THE FALL AND RISE OF TYLENOL CONTD...
An article published in The Washington Post (Post) on October 11, 1982, said, "Johnson & Johnson has effectively demonstrated how a major business ought to handle a disaster. What Johnson & Johnson executives have done is communicate the message that the company is candid, contrite, and compassionate, committed to solving the murders and protecting the public." Post applauded J&J for being honest with the public. It stressed that it must have been difficult for the company to withstand the temptation to disclaim any possible link between Tylenol and the deaths. They added that the company never attempted to do anything, other than try to get to the bottom of the deaths. It also mentioned that J&J almost immediately put up a reward of $100,000 for the killer. |
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In 1986, while the public fear about Tylenol was subsiding, J&J was
again in the news due to product tampering. A woman in New York died
after taking Tylenol. J&J had to once again recall all capsule products.
The company decided to permanently discontinue capsule products. It
replaced the product with new solid caplets that were relatively less
susceptible to tampering.
The 1986 incident, however, attracted negative criticism from analysts.
They said that after the 1982 incidents, J&J should have been more
proactive and vigilant about product safety. A section of industry
observers remarked that the media had played an important role in J&J's
public relations campaign in 1982. They said that if J&J had not been
cooperative with the media, it would have received less positive media
coverage which in turn would have affected Tylenol's reputation
permanently.
THE TYLENOL OVERDOSE CONTROVERSY
In 1989, J&J faced yet another problem when deaths occurred due to
Tylenol overdoses. In 1989, five-year-old Lacy Keele died after being
given four extra strength Tylenol tablets in one day twice what she
should have taken. In early 1990s, fourteen-month-old Sophie
Regosin-Hodges was given an overdose of Tylenol, which severely damaged
her liver. As per the pediatrician's advice, Sophie was given infant
Tylenol drops. The infant drops were three and half times stronger than
the children's medicine. Though Sophie survived with a transplant of
liver tissue from her father she was put on immunosuppressant drugs for
the rest of her life. In another incident reported in 1993, Antonio
Benedi, an alcoholic, took ten extra strength Tylenol in four days. He
survived only after a liver transplant.
In the following years, there were hundreds of deaths and severe liver
damages that were all attributed to Tylenol's main ingredient รข?#8218;??#8364;œ
acetaminophen. Acetaminophen was used to treat mild to moderate pain and
fever including simple headaches, muscle aches and mild form of
arthritis. The drug was more useful for patients who could not use
Aspirin or Ibuprofen, because of gastrointestinal ulcers or bleeding
disorders. It was the main ingredient of Tylenol and other pain
relieving drugs (See Exhibit VI) and damaged the liver severely, if the
medications were taken in large doses (See Exhibit VII).
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