A couple of weeks ago we talked about how the company Johnson & Johnson faced product liability issues over the recall and production of Tylenol. The company failed to follow federal manufacturing guidelines in three of its factories that produce Tylenol and as a result the government took over the facilities to avoid further product safety issues. But, it appears the product liability issues for Johnson & Johnson and Tylenol are not over.
The company has recalled another lot of Tylenol voluntarily because of consumer complaints about a strange, musty odor. The company has recalled one lot of Tylenol 8 Hour Extended Release Caplets. One lot is around 34,000, 150 count bottles. Johnson & Johnson believes the strange odor was caused by small amounts of chemicals called 2, 4, 6-trichloroanisole (TCA) and 2, 4, 6-tribromoanisole (TBA). The decomposition of a chemical in wood pallets used to transport and store the packaging materials for the company’s products creates TBA.
Consumers who have used the contaminated pain-relievers have experienced stomach issues though the medical issues are not serious according to one doctor reporting on the incident. The doctor said, “They’re not that severe — we’re talking about vomiting, diarrhea.”
The affected medicine was produced at the McNeil Consumer Healthcare plant in Fort Washington, PA before the production site was voluntarily closed in April 2010. The company recalled 128,000 bottles of the same product in October 2010, and in July 2010 the company recalled 21 different products including Motrin, Benadryl and Children’s Tylenol. In April 2010, the company conducted the largest recall of children’s medicine recalling 130 million bottles involving over 40 products.
