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Norco College

Infamous Recalls

Tylenol’s Crisis

Edward Rodriguez

Applied Business Management Ethics

Dr. Zwart

06 April 2014

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Table of Contents

Intro to Tylenol Recall……………………………………………………………………………………………..Page 3

Affects of Cyanide in Tylenol’s Extra-Strength Capsules…………………………………………..Page 3-4

Crisis Management………………………………………………………………………………………………….Page 4

Rectifying and Preventing………………………………………………………………………………………..Page 5

Prevention Ideas… ………………………………………………………………………………………………….Page 6

Concluding the Recall………………………………………………………………………………………………Page 6-7

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Intro to Tylenol Recall

Throughout history there have many product recalls that have affected both businesses

and consumers in a big way. In the medicine industry particularly involving pain killers there

was one big blunder involving a huge recall that almost caused a major product to go obsolete.

This case involved Tylenol’s extra-strength capsules in 1982 and had a substantial impact on

consumers and on Tylenol’s parent company Johnson & Johnson. The capsules recalled

contained 65 milligrams of cyanide which is 10,000 more than necessary to kill a human;

cyanide that was put into the capsules by an unknown suspect. During that time in 1982 Tylenol

was a major competitor in the market; owning 37 percent of its market. The affects that came

after the crisis were big not only for Tylenol’s success, but also for Johnson & Johnson’s

reputation, as well as for consumers’ health. Although it was an unknown suspect(s) who

placed the cyanide into the Tylenol capsules and not Johnson & Johnson, it is still Johnson &

Johnson’s fault because of their assurance of public safety first , and also because Tylenol is one

of their products and it’s packaging wasn’t up to FDA tampering standards at the time.

Affects of Cyanide in Tylenol’s Extra-Strength Capsules

Cyanide is an acid that when consumed by humans it can be very deadly as it was in the

1982 Tylenol crisis. The total number of causalities isn’t exactly known, but in that very same

year 1982, seven people were found dead in Chicago after they had consumed Tylenol extra-

strength capsules (The Tylenol Crisis, 1982). Those casualties are very severe consequences of

unsafe products which should by no means be placed on shelves for people to purchase and

consume. Once the information that the capsules were poisoned came out consumers were

quick to jump to another brand which hurt Tylenol deeply. For example, Tylenol ended up

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losing 30 percent of its market share in comparison to its 37 percent that it had before the

scandal broke out, it was a very significant loss (The Tylenol Crisis, 1982). In addition to loss in

market share Johnson and Johnson also lost about 100 million dollars due to 13 million bottles

being recalled (The Tylenol Crisis, 1982). The aftermath of the recall was so severe that the

product was almost forced out of competition if not for the way that the crisis was handled.

Crisis Management

There is no question that going through a product recall due to unsafe qualities can be

very difficult for any company to cope with. There are many obstacles that a company must

overcome such as having to regain its customers’ trust and repairing its image. Johnson &

Johnson handled their situation about as best as any company could. For example, even though

the poisoned capsules were mainly affected only the Chicago, Illinois area Johnson & Johnson

still took no chance and recalled every Tylenol capsule across the nation. Furthermore, they

sent out many warnings of poisoned Tylenol capsules through the media in order to prevent

future casualties and illnesses to consumers. It was due to their crisis management strategy

that Johnson & Johnson was able to repair its’ image and gain back the trust of the American

people who at first saw their product as a killer more than a cure at time of the crisis. Also,

Johnson & Johnson’s management of the crisis demonstrated their commitment to doing

what’s right over doing what’s best for the company in terms of profits. Also, It’s true that their

products directly lead to the death of seven people in Chicago, but they weren’t the only ones

to blame because they didn’t exactly place the poison into the capsules instead it was an

unknown suspect or suspects who acted against Tylenol for unknown reasons. Still some of the

burden has to fall on Johnson & Johnson.

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Rectifying and Preventing

Making up for millions of dollars in sales and the deaths of several people can

never fully be accomplished, but Johnson & Johnson did their best. To help the victims’ families,

they offered compensation in the forms of counseling and financial assistance in order to help

the families cope with their tragic and unfortunate losses (The Johnson & Johnson Tylenol

Crisis). In addition, to help prevent any additional tragedies regarding tampering issues,

Johnson & Johnson became the first in its industry to adhere to FDA tampering standards so

that nobody could tamper with their Tylenol product again and therefore prevent any future

poisoning of the product (The Johnson & Johnson Tylenol Crisis). After people saw how Johnson

& Johnson was handling their crisis they couldn’t help but feel sorry for a trusted company that

was now being viewed as a victim of a rogue criminal or criminals whose intention was to kill

innocent people. Even though they did handle the crisis pretty smoothly, it shouldn’t have

happened in the first place. Medicine is a drug with the potential to do marvelous things when

used appropriately, but can also be the source of a tragedy like with the seven people in

Chicago, Illinois who died from the use of medicine. With that said pharmaceutical companies

that produce medicine and other drugs that can be sold over the counter must make sure that

their product is absolutely safe to use. By not meeting FDA tampering standards at the time of

the incident Johnson & Johnson failed to meet their responsibility of delivering safe products to

their consumers. They should’ve already had a product that was tamper-proof to prevent

someone from putting deadly amounts of cyanide into their capsules in the first place.

Although, Johnson & Johnson handled the crisis expertly they still could’ve done more to

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prevent any tragedy from ever occurring, and there are a couple of ways in which they could’ve

done that.

Prevention Ideas

In Order to prevent an unsafe product from hitting the shelves and causing

tragedies that could be hurtful for both consumers and businesses, companies must have

procedures in place to ensure that only safe products reach the shelves. To make sure that

happens companies must make sure that they adhere to every FDA standard that they can. For

example, If Johnson & Johnson had simply met the FDA standard to make a tamper-proof

product; the seven lives that were lost in Chicago could’ve been prevented. Also, there needs to

be one final test that a drug goes through right before it hits the shelves of a local pharmacy or

drug store. That test needs to prove that the drugs are absolutely safe and ready for consumers

to buy and use. If there are any risks that the product may contain deadly or harmful

ingredients that it isn’t supposed to have then that drug must immediately be removed. In

addition, the health of consumers must be placed as the top priority of any company that

produces drugs, because in the end it is the consumers who make the companies and if

companies are producing products that are killing consumers, than not only will that company

fail, but many people will suffer tragic losses that cannot be rectified.

Concluding the Recall

Johnson & Johnson once had one of the most popular drugs on the market with

their painkiller Tylenol extra-strength capsules. After their 1982 crisis in which deadly acid

cyanide was placed into some of the capsules, Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol consequently

suffered major losses in its market, and also suffered a major blow to its image. They lost

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millions of dollars and received a lot of negative publicity, but after they recalled their product

and later re-introduced it, the company that many people had trusted to alleviate their pain

had once again climbed back on top. Even today Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol remains as one of

the top brands in pain killer medicine. It was only because of the way that they handled the

crisis and the steps they took to prevent any other mishaps that they were once again able to

become a top brand in a big market. Still pharmaceutical companies that produce drugs must

make sure that the safety of their consumers is their top priority in order to prevent future

mishaps.

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Bibliography

“The Tylenol Crisis, 1982”. Effective Crisis Management. Copyright 2002 Reyna Susi. Web. 04

April 2014.

“Case Study: The Johnson & Johnson Tylenol Crisis”. Crisis Communication Strategies. U.S

Department of Defense. Web. 04 April 2014.