phantom recall

The state of Oregon is suing Johnson & Johnson for allegedly hiring people to buy Motrin pain reliever off the shelves so that the company would not have to issue a formal recall, nor tell consumers there was a problem. Eight months after the formal recall was issued, Oregon Attorney General...

In testimony before Congress Thursday, Johnson & Johnson's CEO apologized for the problems that have beset his company, including the quality issues with its children's medicines and the "phantom recall" of a batch of Motrin. He also said new batches of its children's medicines should start shipping next week.

Was Johnson & Johnson aware of problems with its Children's Tylenol months before the recall? The House Oversight Committee has invited an FDA commissioner and Johnson & Johnson chairman to a hearing next week to address this and other questions surrounding the massive recall of children's medicines earlier this year.

Johnson & Johnson subsidiary McNeil recalled another batch of over-the-counter medicines Thursday. The specific lots of Tylenol, Motrin and Benadryl products may have been contaminated with trace amounts of a chemical that gives them a musty or moldy odor.

A House panel will hold a second hearing, postponed until sometime after June 30, to examine the recall of more than 135 million bottles of infant and children's medicines produced by J&J's McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit. This time the boss is expected to show.