Case Studies in Business Ethics and Corporate Governance

Johnson & Johnson: Weathering Turbulence 83

Date Products Problem

15 January 2010 53 million bottles of over-the-counter

products including Tylenol, Motrin and

Rolaids, Benadryl and St. Joseph’s

Aspirin, involving lots in the Americas,

the United Arab Emirates and Fiji

Unusual mouldy, musty or mildew-

like or linked to chemical in wood

pallets used to store and ship

products

December 2009 Expands November recall of Tylenol

Arthritis Pain caplets

Consumer reports of unusual

mouldy or with the 100-count

bottles

November 2009 5 lots of Tylenol arthritis pain caplets Reports of an unusual musty

or mildew-like odour that was

associated with nausea, stomach

pain, vomiting and diarrhoea

September 2009 Some lots of infants’ and children’s

Tylenol

Possible bacterial contamination

July 2009 Motrin tablets sold mostly at

convenience stores. The recall is the

subject of a congressional probe into

what some Democratic lawmakers say

was a stealthy effort to buy back the

drug rather than recall it. J&J has said

that FDA knew of their actions, while

FDA has said that as soon as it found

out, it sought a recall

Problems with dissolving

Source: Company website

REFERENCES

Alsop, Ronald, ‘Johnson & Johnson (Think Babies!) Turns Up Tops,’ Wall Street Journal, 23 September

1999, p. B1.

Barker, Robert, ‘Picture of Health: Johnson & Johnson Seems to Have Cured What Ailed It,’ Barron’s,

30 March 1987, p. 15.

Barrett, Amy, ‘J & J Stops Babying Itself,’ Business Week, 13 September 1999, pp. 95–97.

‘Changing a Corporate Culture,’ Business Week, 14 May 1984, p. 130.

Dumaine, Brian, ‘Is Big Still Good?,’ Fortune, 20 April 1992, pp. 50–60.

Easton, Thomas, and Stephan Herrera, ‘J & J’s Dirty Little Secret,’ Forbes, 12 January 1998,

pp. 42–44.

Fannin, Rebecca, ‘The Pain Game,’ Marketing and Media Decisions, February 1989, pp. 34–39.

Foster, Lawrence G., A Company That Cares: One Hundred Year Illustrated History of Johnson & John-

son, New Brunswick, N.J.: Johnson & Johnson, 1986, p. 175.

Guzzardi, Walter, ‘The National Business Hall of Fame,’ Fortune, 12 March 1990, pp. 118–126.

Harris, Roy J., Jr., and Elyse Tanouye, ‘Johnson & Johnson to Buy Neutrogena in Bid to Boost Consum-

er-Products Unit,’ Wall Street Journal, 23 August 1994, p. A3.

EXHIBIT III: Continued

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