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The sudden, tragic deaths of a series of virtually unknown individuals from the Chicago area sent shockwaves throughout the country on September 29, 1982. Miss Kellerman from Elk Grove Village thudded into death at the age of 12, when the pharmaceutical company, J&J, sold the drug Extra-Strength Tylenol, used by an open-ended number of her relatives and friends, in response to her report of a sore throat. What effect did it have upon her? The same day, Herbert Adam Janus, aged 27 at the time, collapsed and died at their home in Arlington Heights.
We didn’t know what was happening, but everybody thought he died of a heart attack. Foam is coming out of his mouth, his eyes were upside down.
Joseph Janus, Brother of Postal Worker Adam Janus
That same day, three additional, highly unexpected deaths occurred in the following week when about seven pills from the bottle labeled for use by either Stanley Janus or Theresa Janus were taken by both, while they were still in the act of mourning their brother's death.
The Discovery of a Sinister Plot
These inexplicable deaths could no longer be considered isolated incidents very quickly. The investigations that followed succumbed to the horrifying revelation that activists had introduced sodium cyanide in capsules, and Tylenol inhibited the body cells from using oxygen. In total, seven people in all perished from this poison.
It’s got to be the Tylenol,” former Arlington Heights village nurse Helen Jensen recalled. “Something’s wrong with the Tylenol.
Helen Jensen, Former Arlington Heights Village Nurse
It is deeply disturbing that it appeared the capsules had actually been removed from stores, poisoned, and returned for purchase by a consumer. This prompted widespread panic and a massive recall by the manufacturer. The entire nation was placed under recall for about 31 million bottles of Tylenol by Johnson & Johnson; at the same time, the company also announced a $100,000 reward for any information leading to the terrorists.
It works very fast. No question about it, in its solid crystal form, cyanide can be lethal to humans in quantities far less than a gram, though people have survived after ingesting more than that. Classically, the smell of cyanide is described as … bitter almonds. Some people would just say it’s a very pungent odor.
Donoghue, Cook County’s Deputy Chief Medical Examiner
A Case That Remains Unsolved
However, it has remained an open case. The polluter of Tylenol was caught after a thorough investigation. James William Lewis, a resident of New York City, was convicted of an extortion letter to Johnson & Johnson asking for $1 million to call off the preferring the killings, but he was never charged for the murder at all.
A Catalyst to Drive Change in Consumer Safety
The Tylenol murders alone brought major changes in how these over-the-counter medications are sold or marketed to consumers. Johnson and Johnson developed tamper-evident packaging with glued boxes, neck seals of plastics, and foil seals on bottles. Replacement of capsules with solid caplets puts the medications beyond tampering.
“It shifted our perception of the packaging, but it also raised our awareness and made us conscious of the risks that exist,” Kennedy, an assistant professor in the School of Criminal Justice and the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection at Michigan State University, said.
In the aftermath of the crisis, a "Tylenol Bill" was enacted by Congress in 1983 that made it a federal crime to tamper with consumer products, thus catching the attention of the public. Besides, the FDA had guidelines requiring tamper-evident packaging for OTC drugs.
“The risk always exists, but with current packaging, it would be very expensive, very labor-intensive. It’d be difficult to get these things in and out of the system.” Kennedy said.
“I see them looking down at all of us. I know they’re here thinking this was a positive for the world. Everywhere that you go, when you go to a store, everything is sealed. And the seals are to protect the human race from people tampering with products. Maybe this was supposed to happen – to save other people’s lives.” Monica Janus, who was in the house when her two uncles and aunt fell victim in 1982.
A Legacy of Vigilance
The Tylenol murders, tragic as they were, provoked a national reevaluation of product safety and corporate responsibility. Johnson & Johnson's prompt and open response became the example case in crisis management. The tamper-evident packaging that is in use today is a grave reminder that the safety of the consumer will never cease to be a priority.
Reference:
1. Patel, Dr. A., & Nedelman, M. (2018, August 24). How unsolved murders changed our pill bottles. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/24/health/tylenol-murders-cyanide-somethings-killing-me/index.html
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Muhammad Faisal Arshad/MSM)
