Tylenol Tampering Case
Tylenol Tampering
Mitchell Leon, ‘Tylenol Fights Back’.
1983
On Thursday, September 30, 1982, reports
first began to filter into the
headquarter of Johnson & Johnson that people had died in Chicago after taking
Extra Strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide. The product, manufacture by McNeil Consumer Products Company, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, held 35 percent of the analgesic market accounted for approximately 7 percent of
Johnson & Johnson’s total sales and 15 to 20 percent of its profits.
An initial investigation by management disclosed that cyanide is used in testing the quality of raw materials at the production site, a fact Johnson & Johnson first denied due to internal communication glitch, but then announced to the press the following morning. By the end of the first day, management was convinced that the cyanide contamination did not occur at its Fort Washington,
Pennsylvania, plant. However, it could not take a chance, so it recalled all 93,000 bottles produced in the lot from which the poisonings occurred. All advertising for Tylenol was suspended.
The following morning, management learned that a sixth victim of the poisoning had taken a capsule from a bottle that was manufactured in a lot at its Round
Rock, Texas, plant. This supported the belief that the tampering had taken place in Chicago and not at a Johnson & Johnson plant. It would have been almost impossible to contaminate Tylenol at both plants.
Johnson & Johnson Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James E. Burke decided to take personal charge of the company’s response to the Tylenol crisis.
Lecturer’s Initial: RJ
On Monday, October 4, he traveled to Washington to meet with the FBI and the
FDA. He was considering recalling all Extra Strength Tylenol capsules but was advised against such action by both agencies. ‘The FBI didn’t want us to do it’, explained Burke, ‘because it would say to whomever did this, ‘Hey I’m winning,
I can bring a major corporation to its knees’.
Mitchell Leon, ‘Tylenol Fights Back’.
1983
On Thursday, September 30, 1982, reports
first began to filter into the
headquarter of Johnson & Johnson that people had died in Chicago after taking
Extra Strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide. The product, manufacture by McNeil Consumer Products Company, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, held 35 percent of the analgesic market accounted for approximately 7 percent of
Johnson & Johnson’s total sales and 15 to 20 percent of its profits.
An initial investigation by management disclosed that cyanide is used in testing the quality of raw materials at the production site, a fact Johnson & Johnson first denied due to internal communication glitch, but then announced to the press the following morning. By the end of the first day, management was convinced that the cyanide contamination did not occur at its Fort Washington,
Pennsylvania, plant. However, it could not take a chance, so it recalled all 93,000 bottles produced in the lot from which the poisonings occurred. All advertising for Tylenol was suspended.
The following morning, management learned that a sixth victim of the poisoning had taken a capsule from a bottle that was manufactured in a lot at its Round
Rock, Texas, plant. This supported the belief that the tampering had taken place in Chicago and not at a Johnson & Johnson plant. It would have been almost impossible to contaminate Tylenol at both plants.
Johnson & Johnson Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James E. Burke decided to take personal charge of the company’s response to the Tylenol crisis.
Lecturer’s Initial: RJ
On Monday, October 4, he traveled to Washington to meet with the FBI and the
FDA. He was considering recalling all Extra Strength Tylenol capsules but was advised against such action by both agencies. ‘The FBI didn’t want us to do it’, explained Burke, ‘because it would say to whomever did this, ‘Hey I’m winning,
I can bring a major corporation to its knees’.