The 1982 Tylenol Scandal Crisis

In order to discuss this case, it is also important to know about McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson and the producers of famous medicine "Tylenol". Tylenol was their best selling product; it was very much trusted by their consumers and they also earned huge profits from its sales in United States.

In this task, Customer of Legislation, I will discuss the five main acts of parliament that the legislations are made for the business. The legislation is a law, which there are five for businesses, which everyone must follow the law, however, the ideas of Laws in a business are made by the government to make sure customers of a business are protected from a business by the five Acts of Parliament. These Laws of parliament will make sure the Business follows the rules for customer’s protection purposes. However, if they don’t follow the rules, the customers could be harmed; the businesses must be honest to customers; the business must not take advantage of customers.

When J&J realized that their Tylenol capsules caused the deaths of four Chicagoans, they immediately initiated a recall of all Tylenol products, and spread the news by any means possible. Cars with sirens and loudspeakers drove through the city and suburbs of Chicago, urging residents to throw away any Tylenol capsules they might have. Schools were contacted, and they instructed students to bring all Tylenol products to the school nurse. News flashes were initiated to warn people of the Tylenol danger as well, and all stores were instructed to remove Tylenol products from their shelves. Removing the products was a gutsy move, not only because it was dangerous to the company by recalling so much products, but there was also a fear that the killer

In October of 1982, Tylenol, the leading pain-killer medicine in the United States at the time, faced a tremendous crisis when seven people in Chicago were reported dead after

This happened on two occasions, the first in 1982 and the second in 1986. These episodes could have been devastating to the McNeil company by drastic decrease in consumption of the Tylenol products. The McNeil company rallied to the situation to counter this possible decrease in consumption. According to "Laurels: The National Business Hall of Fame", Tylenol's share in the one billion dollar analgesic market commanded thirty-five percent of the market before the 1982 incident. At the time of these episodes, consumer trust was damaged and market share decreased to seven percent. By February 1983, Tylenol had regained a twenty-four percent share of the market(Diary of an Amazing Comeback). In the 1990's, Tylenol again reached its thirty-five percent of the market which at this time accounted for a two billion dollar market(Laurels: The National Business Hall of Fame, Fortune). By regaining their share of the market, this demonstrated that the consumers had faith in the McNeil company's ability to produce safe and trustworthy products, i.e. Tylenol, for their comfort and happiness.

Therefore, some such advice may help government to improve its regulation system. Firstly, the government may want to extend the range of ‘necessary’ to satisfy current social circumstances, and amend such a code regularly. Secondly, all of the states need to establish their own regulation system or regard other states’ cases to protect both minors and business entities. Finally, government might want to consider to amend the law of the age of majority due to more and more young people engaging in business with

The problematic issue for Bristol-Myers was to position its new aspirin drug to the potential customers and decide a good price which can not only make it acceptable by the customers, but also give a fair profit to the company. In other words, the company had to formulate an effective marketing and promotional strategy for its new drug, Datril. The company was not merely willing to establish its new brand in the analgesic market; the main issue was to establish this new brand in the presence of a strong competitor, Tylenol.

In 1982, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) faced a major crisis that had the potential to send the company into financial ruin. Tylenol, the country’s most successful over-the-counter product, with over one hundred million users, was under attack.

An improper pharmaceutical product entering the business is not a new issue or concern, but the new mandates appear to be increasing the amount of attention needed to protect the public. The Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), which composes Title II of the Drug Quality and Security Act, had made changes to Section 582 of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The amendment to the section now mandates that all manufacturers of pharmaceutical goods, distributors, those who repackage the products, and medication dispensers to report the Food and Drug Administration, as well as trading partners (not all but certain ones) products that were determined by them to be either suspect or illegitimate within 24 hours.

In the early ‘80s the Johnson & Johnson company was a very successful brand. So successful, that some of their most popular brands were able to corner more than a third of their market. However, all of their accomplishments were threatened when a series of unfortunate murders tarnished one their most popular names: Tylenol.

The Tylenol tampering incident that occurred in the early 1980’s set off a nationwide panic once the news hit the wires. This was at a time long before the Internet and even before 24 hour news networks. This was an example of true “breaking news”. People became frantic, checking medicine cabinets and calling family and friends, warning them of the cyanide in the capsules. Johnson & Johnson, the parent company, was instrumental in contacting the media channels, providing them with details and facts about the poisoning. What Johnson & Johnson did was not only admirable, but an important part of the rebuilding trust with the consumer. The company made the immediate decision to be proactive by being truthful and getting out in front of the

After such a horrible crisis Tylenol began to build its brand back up. After removing the

Product failure: Tylenol experienced a serious crisis when an unknown person replaced Tylenol Extra Strength with cyanide-laced capsules, resealed the bottles and distributed them on shelves of many pharmacies in the Chicago area. Immediately after finding out this news, James Burke, chairman of Johnson & Johnson, reacted quickly and made a seven-member strategy team (Greyser, 2009). Their two main tasks were to “protect the people” and “save the product” (Greyser, 2009). The first move was to alert the media and customers nationwide to prevent anyone else from consuming the product. Johnson & Johnson stopped all advertising and withdrew all capsules from shelves in Chicago and the surrounding area. When the company found two bottles of

Madani D., Licetti M. (2010). Business regulation, reform and corruption. The World Bank, PREM notes, number 155.

William O. Douglas said, “Common sense often makes good law.” Well that is what laws essentially are, rules and regulations that make sure common sense is followed. One could even say that laws are enforced ethics. Laws serve several roles and functions in business and society, and this paper will discuss those roles and functions.