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Johnson & Johnson Under Fire From FDA After Massive OTC Drug Recall

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has made an official statement announcing that they are disappointed with the way that Johnson & Johnson handled the recent recall involving six popular over-the-counter medications. The FDA, who helped coordinate the massive recall, issued the company a formal warning and reiterated that the company should have recalled the drugs in September of 2008 when the problem was initially reported.

McNeil Consumer and Johnson & Johnson recalled six drugs including Tylenol, Benadryl, Motrin, Rolaids, Simply Sleep, and St. Joseph’s. In total, 53 million medications were recalled in total. Stores and pharmacies have been asked to remove the contaminated pills from their shelves.

The recall came after years of complaints that their products smelled strange and that a number of consumers suffered from stomach pains, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. After an investigation, the behemoth company discovered that the problem stemmed from a wood treatment chemical, 2,4,6-tribromoanisole (TBA), used on pallets used to transport the medications. The wooden pallet industry has denied that the chemical is in any way dangerous and released a statement saying that the accusations have been very damaging.

Johnson & Johnson said that all pallets containing the chemical were disposed of immediately. However, they also said that the investigation of the problem was ongoing. The FDA has told the company to complete the investigation within 15 days.

If you believe you may have contaminated pills in your house, check Johnson & Johnson’s website for the lot number on the box.

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