McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, has recalled three lots of Concentrated Motrin Infants, a children’s medication used to treat fevers, aches and pains. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) website, the medicine could contain tiny plastic particles.
Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil unit said that the recall affects three lots (approximately 200,000 bottles) of its popular Motrin Infants’ Drops Original Berry Flavor, used to lower fever and treat aches and pains in children 2 years old and younger. The company warned that the medicine might be contaminated with specs of PTFE, a plastic also used in Teflon coatings. No illnesses or injuries have been reported to date, according to the company.
McNeil says it is unclear if the recalled bottles actually contained the particles, the size of a poppy seed, which were found in a different product during the manufacturing process. The company decided to issue a recall because both products contain the same shipment of ibuprofen from a third-party supplier. Ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory, is a common pain reliever and fever reducer, also used in Advil.
“From our perspective, during the manufacturing process at a third party supplier, that’s when the particles got into the ibuprofen,” said McNeil Vice President Ed Kuffner, in an interview with the Associated Press. Kuffner declined to identify the supplier that made the ibuprofen.
The recalled half-ounce bottles can be identified by their lot numbers: DCB3T01, DDB4R01 and DDB4S01. McNeil recommends that all consumers stop using the medication that’s affected and call the company for a refund at 1-877-414-7709, containing the UPC code 300450524157.
The recalled Motrin was manufactured at the company’s plant in Beerse, Belgium. McNeil’s primary manufacturing plant in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, has been closed since the spring of 2010 after a string of recalls involving brands like Tylenol, Motrin and Zyrtec. In April 2010, approximately 136 million children’s and infant’s over-the-counter medicines made up the largest recall of its kind.
Even though the FDA maintains that this recall was ‘voluntary,’ this is not the first time that Johnson & Johnson has recalled infant products and it seems that each incident seems to be more dangerous than the last.
According to the FDA, in January 2012, the company’s Aveeno Baby Calming Comfort Lotion was voluntarily recalled due to high levels of bacteria and, in 2010, Johnson & Johnson pulled a long list of over-the-counter medications, to include Children’s Benadryl and Children’s Pedicare, due to issues at the manufacturing site.
It is bad enough to have high levels of bacteria in a baby product, but to think there may be particles of plastic in an infant’s medicine, definitely makes you question the quality of this organization.
For more information, feel free to contact one of our Gacovino Lake attorneys at 1-800-246-HURT (4878).
