More drug recalls from Johnson and Johnson

The move is the latest in a series of recalls plaguing the company and resulting in the shut-down of a plant in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.

A trusted brand of pain relief is losing consumer confidence. Johnson and Johnson is recalling more of its popular over-the-counter medications. This is the company’s eighth recall this year. The recalls are having a direct impact on the Philadelphia region.

Recalls of Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl and children’s medications have led to the indefinite shuttering of a Fort Washington Pennsylvania factory and a plunge in sales.

Sillup: What is happening is tarnishing of a brand image.

George Sillup is the chair of pharmaceutical marketing at St. Joe’s University, and a former Johnson and Johnson employee. He says that in previous troubles — such as a poisoning scandal in the 1980s — the company has been more forthcoming in getting to the root of the problem.

Sillup: This current situation is concerning because it sort of reminds you of the oil spill. Each time a week goes by there’s another little ripple. Oh, I didn’t tell you everything, I told you 90%, but there’s another situation that’s arisen.

With additional recalls surfacing and complaints from the FDA about the company’s response, consumer confidence is eroding.

Sillup: And I think to rebuild that image is going to take longer. It just creates more hesitancy in the consumer.

The recalls appear to be connected to a chemical on shipping pallets that caused a moldy smell on medications. The latest recall involved medications made in Puerto Rico, but sold in the US and elsewhere.