Johnson & Johnson in trouble again
June 16, 2010
Johnson & Johnson, a name that has meant clean, honest medical supplies and medicines throughout its 120-year history, was given bad marks in quality control by the FDA at a recent inspection. (See the Wall Street Journal’s report.)
The company’s McNeil production plant in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, has been shut down with no definite timeline for re-opening it. This follows an April, 2010, FDA inspection that found problems such as “bacterial contamination of ingredients, filthy equipment and the potential for medicines to be too potent.”
Another serious charge was levied on the company’s Ortho McNeil manufacturing plant. A fine of $6.14 million was levied by the FDA in May of this year on charges that Ortho McNeail was marketing the Topomax epilepsy drug for psychiatric purposes. The FDA has never approved of Topomax for treating any psychiatric disorders. An affiliate company, Ortho-McNeil-Jansen Pharmeuticals, will pay $75.3 million to cover the cost of claims by members of the public, as allowed by the False Claims Act.
Earlier this year 70 percent of Johnson & Johnson’s over-the-counter children medicines were recalled, with roughly 70 percent of the market for such products pulled from store shelves, including a nationwide recall of Children’s Tylenol. Altogether, more than 40 varieties of liquid medicines, including pain drug Motrin, and allergy medicines Benadryl and Zyrtec, were recalled. The recall is undoubtedly the largest in U.S. history for children’s medication.
These reports are just a few of the many charges of sloppy workmanship aimed at Johnson & Johnson in recent months. While the problems are highly unlikely to result in any physical harm to anyone, experts agree that the public relations impact is huge.
The company seems to be taking the jolts in stride. In a June 4 press release, Johnson & Johnson announced that its ”pharmaceutical businesses generated $24.6 billion in sales last year, 39 percent of the company’s total revenue, and ranks as the world’s seventh largest pharmaceutical company and fourth largest biotech company.”
Submitted compliments of Griffith Publishing
