Science and Health

J&J recalls Tylenol painkiller over labeling

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-11-25 09:43

NEW YORK - Johnson & Johnson said on Wednesday it is recalling 9 million more bottles of its Tylenol painkiller because they do not adequately warn customers about the presence of trace amounts of alcohol used in the product flavorings.

The latest in a seemingly incessant string of J&J recalls involves three brands of Tylenol Cold Multi-Symptom Liquid. The Tylenol formulations include Daytime 8-ounce Citrus Burst, Severe 8-Ounce Cool Burst, and Nighttime 8-Ounce Cool Burst.

"There is less than 1 percent alcohol in the flavoring, and this information is on the back of the bottles," said company spokeswoman Bonnie Jacobs.

"But the information does not appear on the front of the bottles," she added, an omission that sparked the recall of the affected lots from wholesalers and retail outlets in the United States.

More than 200 million packages of painkillers Tylenol and Motrin, allergy treatment Benadryl and other consumer brands have been recalled over the past year due to quality-control lapses, hurting company earnings and the image of the iconic brands.

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The company said no side effects have been seen with the newly recalled liquid Tylenol products, which were made by a third-party manufacturer. Customers who already have the formulations can continue to take them, J&J said.

Just days ago, J&J recalled almost 5 million packages of Benadryl, Motrin and its Rolaids antacid because of manufacturing "insufficiencies."

J&J said those recalls, like many of the earlier ones, involved products made at its plant in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. The facility was closed earlier this year to fix quality-control lapses, including unsanitary conditions, and is not expected to resume operations until late next year.

As the company establishes new quality-control safeguards, it could discover lapses in its earlier processes that could warrant new product recalls, J&J cautioned.

Jacobs declined to comment when asked if the mounting number of recalls might soon force J&J to take special charges.

Scores of J&J's consumer product formulations have been taken from store shelves, forcing consumers to turn to store brands. An ongoing US congressional probe of the repeated recalls, and criticism by the US Food and Drug Administration of J&J's quality controls, have further undermined the J&J products.

US sales of J&J consumer brands plunged 25 percent in the third quarter, contributing to an overall decline in global company revenue.

Shares of J&J were up 0.7 percent at $63.29 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange, amid strong gains in the broad stock market.