House committee to investigate OTC meds recall

05/06/2010

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is looking into the events that prompted a wide recall of over 40 brands of children's over-the-counter medications this weekend, including Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, and Zyrtec.

The committee will be investigating the origin of the recall, which FDA officials say followed a routine inspection that found problems with the manufacturing plant, but the company suggests was spurred by consumer complaints.  According to Johnson and Johnson's McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the maker of the products, some of the medicines may have more active ingredient (API) than specifiied or contained metallic materials from the manufacturing process. This is the fourth recall of Johnson and Johnson products in seven months.

"FDA inspectors said bacteria contaminated raw materials to be used to make several lots of Tylenol products for children. FDA also said that the J&J unit received 46 complaints from consumers between June 2009 and April 2010 regarding 'foreign materials, black or dark specks' in the medicines," according to the Wall Street Journal.

Read more at the Washington Post, or read about the FDA and OTC drugs on PostScript blog.