Tylenol Crisis

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Recommended: Ethical dilemma during pandemic

In September of 1982 seven people from Chicago died after taking Tylenol capsules.

Tylenol was the leading pain-killer medicine in the United States at the time. It was reported that

an unknown suspect put 65 milligrams of deadly cyanide into Tylenol capsules. It was assumed

that the tampering occurred once the product reached the shelves. They were removed from the

shelves, infected with cyanide and returned to the shelves (Mitchell 1989). In 1982, Tylenol

controlled 37 percent of its market with revenue of about $1.2 million. Immediately after the

cyanide poisonings, its market share was reduced to seven percent (Mitchell 1989). However the

crisis did hurt the company but their response was quickly active, they went directly to the media

source. Tylenol implemented Mill’s ethics and used a utilitarian critique when dealing with the

scare.

Before the crisis began Tylenol was the leading pain-reliever. It was Johnson &

Johnson’s largest selling brand, and made up most of the corporations income. In the fall of

1982, the unknown person released the contaminated packages and placed them around the

Chicago area in pharmacies and food stores. This selfish act ended up harming many people

and the companies’ profits. I don’t understand how a person can be so malicious and

purposely cause harm to others. This situation frightened many people and the company took

quick action when alerting the public.

A reporter for The Chicago Sun-Times named Lewis Lazare reported that “a subsidiary

of Johnson & Johnson, conducted an immediate product recall from the entire country which

amounted to about 31 million bottles and a loss of more than $100 million dollars.” Johnson and

Johnson being faced with this ho...

... middle of paper ...

... with Integrity." St. Petersburg Times 7 Dec. 1982: 30-31. Web. 8 Feb. 2011. .

Lazare, Lewis. "Crisis Triggered Brilliant PR Respose." Chicago Sun-Times Sept. 1982. Print.

Mitchell, Mark. Economic Inquiry. 4th ed. Vol. 27. Huntington Beach: Western Economic Association International, 1989. 601-16. Print.

Nelson, Lauren. "Crisis Communications Case Study Tylenol." BCMpedia. A Wiki Glossary for Business Continuity Management (BCM) and Disaster Recovery (DR). 29 Apr. 2010. Web. 08 Feb. 2011. .

Reyna, Susi. "Tylenol Scandal and Crisis Management." The Interactive Media Lab at the University of Florida. 2002. Web. 08 Feb. 2011. .

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