Ft. Washington-Based Maker Of Tylenol Reaches $33 Million Settlement In Contamination Case

FORT WASHINGTON, PA — McNeil-PPC, Inc., the Fort Washington-based maker of Tylenol that had been accused of distributing contaminated drugs, has reached a $33 million settlement with 43 states across the nation, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Wednesday.

Shapiro and Pennsylvania led the fight against McNeil, previously a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson. Attorney Generals from 42 other states were involved. Pennsylvania and Texas led an executive committee of

Pennsylvania will receive $1.4 million in the deal, money which officials say will go towards consumer protection efforts in the state.

“We’re proud Pennsylvania helped lead this national, effort to ensure health care companies are held accountable when they mislead consumers about the quality of the products they put into the marketplace,” Attorney General Shapiro said in a statement. “It’s particularly troubling that many of the drugs that were found to be contaminated in this case were designed for infants and children.”

McNeil recalled hundreds of millions of packages of drugs, including Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, Sudafed, Rolaids, Mylanta, St. Joseph Aspirin, and more between 2009 and 2011. Many of the recalled drugs were for children, the Attorney General said. The products had reportedly been contaminated with strange odors, particles in liquid medicines, and other oddities,

An investigation revealed that these oddities came after McNeil had manufactured products out of compliance with federal regulations. Moreover, they had sold the products with labels that claimed they were in full compliance.

In addition to this $33 million settlement, McNeil had previously pleaded guilty to quality control issues a few years ago, leading to a total of $25 million in fines.

The full settlement can be read here.

Patch file photo