A Johnson & Johnson subsidiary plead guilty to a federal criminal charge of metal contamination of its children's and infant's liquid medicine Tuesday.
McNeil Consumer Healthcare failed to take corrective action after they discovered that their bottles of Infants' and Children's Tylenol and Children's Motrin contained metal particles, according to ABC 13 News. The company, based in Fort Washington, Pa., has agreed to pay $25 million to resolve the case.
The company and prosecutors said in court that no one was injured as a result of the contamination. However, prosecutors said that McNeil knew about the problem at Fort Washington for a year, but failed to take immediate action to correct the problem. Nickel, iron and chromium are used during the manufacturing process at the plant.
McNeil learned of the problem after a consumer complained of black specks at the bottom of Infants' Tylenol in 2009. McNeil found metal particles during production but continued to produce the liquid medicines for several months. McNeil eventually traced the problem back to its Fort Washington plant and began making recalls in 2010.
Between 2008 and 2010, McNeil recalled hundreds of millions of bottles and packages of brands such as Tylenol, Motrin, Rolaids and Benadryl due to faulty manufacturing, Reuters reported. Metal particles were not the only problems with manufacturing at Fort Washington. Consumers complained of moldy odors and faulty labeling.
In 2010, Johnson & Johnson saw consumer product sales fall by more than 19 percent, a decrease of $900 million. McNeil has agreed to improve its safety measures before reopening its Fort Washington facility.
