on November 22, 2010
Listeria Risk Sparks Turkey Recall: Complete List for Safe Thanksgiving
Chrysler Recalls 16,000 Jeeps for Faulty Windshield Wiper Motors
Johnson & Johnson, Takeda Recall Velcade Drug Batches
Pottery Barn Lamps Pose Electrical Shock Hazards
New Cheese Recall: Washington State Company Pulls Mexican-Style Cheese
Posted in News & Notes, Product Hazards and Recalls
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May 22, 2012 |
Maryland becomes first state to prohibit additive containing arsenic in chicken feed. Gov. Martin O’Malley today signed into law a measure that bans roxarsone, a drug to help chickens grow and fight parasites. Pfizer Inc., the company that produces roxarsone, stopped selling it last year after a U.S. Food and Drug Administration study found higher inorganic arsenic levels in chickens given the additive. Tom Hucker, a Democrat who sponsored the bill in the Maryland House, said the law is needed to prevent arsenic additives from being used again. He said Maryland’s action could embolden lawmakers in states with far bigger poultry industries, such as Georgia, North Carolina and Arkansas. The Associated Press, The Washington Post
Dog bite claims gobble up bigger insurance payouts. The incidents accounted for more than one-third of U.S. homeowners insurance liability claims paid in 2011, costing nearly $479 million. The Insurance Information Institute said the average cost of the claims, which include medical and legal expenses, was $29,396 last year, up from $19,162 in 2004. The American Tort Reform Association, a business group, faulted trial lawyers in California and Illinois, the states with the biggest payouts, for “seizing on yet another money making opportunity.” But an insurance official largely attributed the trend to more people owning dogs and to more parents getting advanced medical care for children who suffer bites. USA Today, Judicial Hellholes
Controversial head of Nuclear Regulatory Commission to step down. Gregory B. Jaczko, whose three years as commission chairman have been marked by battles with colleagues and Congress, said he will leave as soon as a successor is confirmed. The commission’s inspector general is preparing a report expected to repeat previously aired charges of mismanagement and verbal abuse of subordinates. Jaczko sought to address longstanding safety problems at the 104 nuclear power reactors in the U.S., and won praise for the U.S. response after the triple meltdown of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi reactors last year. But he was viewed with skepticism by some industry insiders, and became a target of Republican critics. The New York Times, The Washington Post
Panel advises dropping PSA test for prostate cancer screening. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force concluded that the side effects from needless biopsies and treatments hurt many more men than are potentially helped. At best, it found, one life will be saved for every 1,000 men screened over 10 years. But 100 to 120 men will have suspicious results when there is no cancer, triggering biopsies that can carry complications. If cancer is detected, 90 percent of men are treated with surgery or radiation even though most tumors are not life-threatening. “There is a small potential benefit and a significant known harm,” said the head of the task force. The American Urological Association disputed the recommendation. Los Angeles Times
Fatal building collapse leads to proposed fines of $77,880 against New York contractor. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration charged SP&K Construction of Brooklyn, N.Y., with 11 safety violations in connection with the accident last November in the Brighton Beach neighborhood. OSHA said the company knew that the building was unstable but went ahead anyway with pouring concrete from the top down, leading the building’s third, fourth, and fifth floors to collapse. Along with the worker who was killed, four others were hospitalized with injuries. “Had proper procedures and safeguards been followed, this fatal collapse could have been prevented,” an OSHA official said. New York Daily News, OSHA
Recalls: 4ZA bicycle handlebar stems, Diamond Pet Foods dry dog food (expanded recall), River Ranch Fresh Foods bagged salads (expanded recall)
Compiled by Stuart Silverstein
Leave a CommentMay 21, 2012 |
United Kingdom lowers expectations for shale gas. Supporters of the controversial drilling practice known as fracking -- which blasts water, sand and chemicals at extreme pressures to release gas trapped deep in rock – have argued it could transform Britain's energy market. But the government is backing away from the idea. Industry experts disclosed at ...
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Thank you for noting the Johnson and Johnson recall. It is one of many. The full story hasn’t been reported. It would be a great story for Fairwarning to investigate and report on. No one else has put the whole story together, and J & J products continue to threaten the health of people world wide.
Here is some information to get you started:
A TIMELINE OF THE MCNEIL CONSUMER HEALTHCARE / JOHNSON & JOHNSON RECALLS:
2008: The so-called “phantom recall” took place, in which Johnson & Johnson allegedly hired contractors to pose as customers and buy a certain type of adult Motrin in order to remove the product from store shelves.
November 2009: McNeil recalled five lots of Tylenol Arthritis Pain Caplet 100 count bottles because of an unusual smell or taste. Consumers reported nausea and related symptoms.
December 2009: McNeil expanded the November recall to include all lots of Tylenol Arthritis Pain 100 count.
January 15, 2010: Johnson & Johnson issued a massive recall of over-the-counter drugs because of a moldy smell that has made people sick. The company determined that the odor was caused by the presence of a chemical called 2,4,6-tribromoanisole (TBA).
The FDA said McNeil knew of the problem in early 2008 but made only a limited investigation. Federal regulators criticized the company, saying it didn’t respond to the complaints quickly enough, wasn’t thorough in how it handled the problem and didn’t inform the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) quickly.
The recall includes, but is not limited to:
• Regular and extra-strength Tylenol
• Children’s Tylenol
• Tylenol Children’s Meltaways
• Tylenol 8 Hour
• Tylenol Arthritis
• Tylenol PM
• Tylenol Extra Strength
• Children’s Motrin
• Motrin IB
• Benadryl
• Rolaids Antacid
• Simply Sleep products
• St. Joseph’s aspirin
The FDA said about 70 people have been either sickened by the odor — including nausea, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea — or noticed it.
March 31, 2010 – McNeil recalls Zyrtec Itchy Eye Drops
April 30, 2010: McNeil announced that more than 40 types of children’s and infants’ products were voluntarily recalled. Quality issues included the possibility of the medication containing too much of the active ingredient, containing substandard inactive ingredients, or containing tiny particles. The recall included more than 135 million bottles of children’s medication.
May 5, 2010: Additional recalls: Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl and ZYRTEC. The FDA found “serious” problems at the McNeil Consumer Healthcare plant. Raw materials were found to be contaminated with bacteria, but they were used anyway, the agency found. Quality control was lacking. And the company didn’t investigate potential manufacturing mess-ups, even after receiving consumer complaints about medicines contaminated with black particles, the report notes. “The findings are serious,” FDA official Deborah Autor tells the Washington Post. “Consumers should not use these products.”
May 6, 2010 – Philadelphia Public Health Examiner: The FDA has charged that McNeil knew the raw material had known contamination with gram negative organisms [bacteria] yet approved it for use to manufacture several lots of Children’s and Infant’s Tylenol drug products.. . . The FDA also slammed McNeil for its delayed response in handling the presence of a known contaminant in another one of its plants. The products recalled earlier this year were not children’s products. The earlier recall was for Rolaids and Tylenol extra Strength and a third Tylenol product. The complaints that led to these recalls did include three adverse events.
May 6, 2010 – CNNMoney.com — The FDA confirmed that the bacteria found at the Johnson & Johnson plant that produced the recalled children’s medicines was Burkholderia cepacia.
May 28, 2010: Blacksmith Brands, after conferring with the FDA, initiated a voluntary recall of four PediaCare children’s cough and cold products manufactured at the same McNeil Consumer Healthcare plant that was recently shut down because of poor quality manufacturing. Products included in the recall are:
• PediaCare Multi-Symptom Cold
• PediaCare Long Acting Cough
• PediaCare Decongestant
• PediaCare Allergy and Cold
June 15, 2010: McNeil expanded its Jan. 15, 2010, recall to include five more lots of Benadryl and Tylenol that were “inadvertently omitted from the initial recall action.” Congress announced it would investigate.
July 8, 2010: McNeil Consumer Healthcare is now recalling 21 more lots of over-the-counter medicines sold in the U.S., Fiji, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica, including:
• Benadryl Allergy Ultratab Tablets
• Children’s Tylenol Meltaways Bubblegum
• Motrin IB Caplets and Tablets
• Tylenol Extra Strength, EZ Tablets, Cool Caplets, Day & Night
• Tylenol Rapid Release GelCaps, Tylenol 8 Hr, Tylenol Arthritis, Tylenol PM
• Tylenol PM Caplets, Geltabs, and Rapid Release Gelcaps
• Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec, Benadryl
Also, five complaints filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois against McNeil are seeking class-action status. Consumers accused McNeil of fraud and racketeering for not recalling all of its children’s products and for not adequately reimbursing consumers for their out-of-pocket expenses. . The buyers of those recalled meds are demanding cash refunds–rather than coupons for replacement products–in five suits.
July 16, 2010 – Jere Beasley Report: Rep. Towns, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, says Johnson & Johnson has used delaying tactics in its dealings with the committee and in some instances had provided misinformation. . . The FDA has referred the McNeil case to its office of criminal investigation. http://www.jerebeasleyreport.com/2010/07/drug-maker-fails-to cooperate/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JereBeasleyReport+(Jere+Beasley+Report
And more recalls have occurred since July!