By: Allison Lane

As early as September 2008, the maker of Tylenol products was made aware of the complaints that some Tylenol products had a moldy smell and were causing nausea, however, the products were not recalled until November 2009.  The maker of Tylenol products, Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare Products, is being criticized by the FDA for its failure to investigate the contamination and pulling the products off of the shelves more quickly.  The FDA sent a warning letter to McNeil for failing to follow the manufacturing standards.  The FDA does not have the authority to recall products on its own accord. 

This is the second recall that has occurred in the last several months.  In November 2009, McNeil recalled Tylenol Arthritis for the moldy smell which caused nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.  Now, it has expanded the recall to include some batches of regular and extra-strength Tylenol, children’s Tylenol, Eight-Hour Tylenol, Tylenol PM, children’s Motrin, Motrin IB, Benadryl Rolaids, Simply Sleep, and St. Joseph’s aspirin. These caplets and geltabs were recalled in the Americas, United Arab Emirates and Fiji. 

Research has revealed that the tainted products are being traced back to a chemical in wooden shipping pallets.  McNeil liked the illness to tribromoanisole, which is also known as  TBA.  This chemical is used to treat pallets that contain packaging material used in the tainted products.  Investigators surmise that the chemical leached into the packaging material.  There has not been a lot of research done on the effects of TBA on humans, however, it is believed to cause serious illness.

Please visit www.mcneilproductrecall.com for a complete list of the McNeil recalled products.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration it is.  A new report shows that nationally, seatbelt usage has hit a record high of 84%, a gain from 83% in 2008.  Slowly but surely, are people understanding the importance of wearing seatbelts and how this could protect from death and serious injury?  We hope so…and let the trend continue.

Our personal injury law firm, with headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida, is pleased to announce that we have opened a satellite office in Broward County to better serve our clients further south.

New offices are located in Hollywood, Florida.

3230 Stirling Road, Suite 2A
Hollywood, FL 33021

Our Broward phone number is (954) 767-9190.

As always, we can be found online at www.balkanpatterson.com. The main office of Florida trial attorneys Balkan & Patterson is located in East Boca Raton. They represent personal injury, auto accident, defective products, and consumer fraud clients throughout South Florida, including Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach, Lighthouse Point, Parkland, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and throughout the United States.

Over-the-counter medications made specifically for children have been getting some attention lately, as a major pediatrician group advised that these medications be banned. However, the FDA has rejected the request for a lack of information. Additionally, it’s thought that if these medications are no longer available, parents will begin treating their children with adult-strength medication.

According to an article children’s cough and cold medications on MSNBC, the reason is this:

“With a new cold season coming, pediatricians are urging the government to demand a recall of over-the-counter cough and cold medicines for children younger than 6. The effectiveness of the medicines in children was never scientifically established, critics say, and problems with the drugs send thousands of kids to the emergency room every year.”

For years drug makers and medical device manufacturers have known of risks associated with their products.  It used to be that you could count on the FDA to weed out harmful products. On the heels of questionable products comes legislation from the Bush administration, which could prohibit product liability litigation on all sorts of consumer products. Essentially, these laws would protect large corporations – not the consumers. See this article in the Wall Street Journal for more information.

There has been a concerted governmental effort to protect these corporations and their profits at the expense of consumers.  The law firm of Balkan & Patterson, LLP is dedicated to helping consumers who have been injured by defective products, pharmaceuticals and devices and holding accountable the corporations who have known of the problems but put profits over people. Visit our firm’s website at www.balkanpatterson.com for more information.