2010 Tylenol Recall Found to Contain Bacteria

The 2010 Tylenol recall just got worse. According to the FDA, the 2010 Tylenol recalled products had bacteria. The FDA found Tylenol deficient in their manufacturing practices and discovered that the process may be responsible for bacterial contamination of raw materials in the recalled products. This is not what Tylenol was claiming on Monday, when a company spokesperson told us that the recalled Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec, and Benadryl products were essentially safe, and that the recall was just being done voluntarily. Now the truth comes out that there could be bacteria in any of the recalled lot numbers and that those parents giving Children's Tylenol to their kids could have been putting them at risk.

The FDA hasn't taken a stance that indicated they will punish McNeil Consumer Healthcare (the producers of these drugs) at this time, but it was also noted that the report isn't finished. These findings are extremely troubling because no parent wants to be giving their children bacteria when they are supposed to be taking a specific medicine to get better. The concerns expressed by Deborah Autor of the FDA stated that she thought that the risks to children from these recalled products were remote, but that they do have theoretical concerns. It really doesn't seem like "remote" is good enough right now, as Tylenol should have been more forthcoming about the risk of bacteria in their products.

The points that Tylenol earned for starting a voluntary recall on April 30 are quickly going out the window, as it seems they were really only revealing half-truths about what they were doing here. The 2010 Tylenol recall press release stated that, "This recall is not being undertaken on the basis of adverse medical events. However, as a precautionary measure, parents and caregivers should not administer these products to their children. Some of the products included in the recall may contain a higher concentration of active ingredient than is specified; others may contain inactive ingredients that may not meet internal testing requirements; and others may contain tiny particles."

In the Tylenol press release, the company should have been required to divulge that the products they had sold to consumer could have contained bacteria in them. It really sounds like this company was trying to use slick terminology to avoid saying what was really wrong with their product, and that they jumped at the chance to call it a voluntary recall when someone at the company deduced that the FDA would be coming at them very soon. The product doesn't sound as "safe" as Tylenol representatives were trying to make it sound on Monday, and even if the chance is remote that any child can get sick from this tainted product, any chance is simply unacceptable.

Suffice to say, all parents should make sure that they aren't using any of the potentially risky medicines that have been recalled, and demand answers from this company.

Recall List Information

References:

Tylenol_Recall_Information

Tylenol_Calls_Product_Safe

FDA_Statement_on_Recall