Johnson & Johnson conducted a 'stealth' recall - hired companies to buy Motrin from stores

[Liberal_in_LA]

--Speaking of recalls, a senior official at the Food and Drug Administration says the agency should have acted quicker to crack down on Johnson & Johnson, which conducted a stealth recall last year by buying up defective packets of Motrin from stores nationwide. J&J apparently told the FDA in April 2009 that it planned to repurchase the defective Motrin, which didn't dissolve correctly. But it wasn't until July of that year that the agency said the company needed to do a proper -- and public -- recall, not a shadowy repurchasing program. Really, it's amazing that a major company like J&J could get away with something like that.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2010/09/consumer-confidential-fisher-price-toys-recall-johnson-motrin-fda-postal-service-stamps-mail.html

As the investigation into J&J has deepened, the focus has shifted to how the company handled recalls of products that didn't meet quality standards. Some batches of adult-strength Motrin didn't dissolve the way they were supposed to. That was a problem that could leave some of the medicine too weak.

But how J&J then hired companies to surreptitiously buy up the Motrin from retailers without revealing the issue — a so-called "phantom recall" — has become a cause for concern.

Just listen to the Food and Drug Administration's Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, principal deputy commissioner, who will testify before the panel chaired by Rep. Ed Towns (D-NY) today. In prepared remarks, Sharfstein says, the agency raised concerns with J&J early this year about the action "because it seemed strange that the company had paid a contractor to into retail stores across the country to purchase all available product while action like a regular customer, and not disclosing whether it was recall"

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/09/30/130235595/johnson-johnson-execs-face-more-questions-on-phantom-recall

[grilled onions]

1. I Find Their Business Practices Hard To Swallow

:grr:

[LiberalFighter]

2. If McCain had been elected how would the FDA had respond?

[Bozita]

3. My confidence in corporate America has completely dissolved.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. doesn't seem "strange" to me J&J did it on the sly.

Public recall hits the bottom line of profits.Can't ahve that.

Just goes to show how much corporations are thumbing their noses at ALL regs and rules.
They really don't give a shit, and being hauled in front of Congress is not big deal, won't affect their stock.