Tylenol Exigencies Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Tylenol Exigencies Business - Research Paper Example This in turn, marked the beginning of the company’s integrity in baby business (â€Å"Our Timeline†, n.d., para.3). The company’s efforts to help through provision of relief goods in the aftermath of disasters in the 1900 and 1906 also did a lot to carve its name in the industry. At present times, Johnson & Johnson is in partnership with 250 companies and holds offices in 57 countries distributing their goods in over 175 nations (Johnson & Johnson Corporate, n.d., para.3). In the year 2011, the company’s pharmaceutical sales approximated to $65 billion. Tylenol, McNeil Laboratories & Johnson & Johnson Acetaminophen is the active ingredient in Tylenol. It is widely used for relieving pain and reduction of body temperature for fever. The sales team of McNeil Laboratories came with the term Tylenol by choosing letters from its chemical form N-aceTYL-p-aminophENOL (West, 2009). McNeil Laboratories founded by Robert McNeil was the first to manufacture Tylenol i n 1955 as a prescription drug elixir for children. There was an ongoing issue during that time about the harmful effects of then widely used drug, aspirin. McNeil Laboratories marketed Tylenol as the benign alternative to aspirin (West, 2009). It was in 1959 when Johnson & Johnson acquired McNeil Laboratories and the same year marked Tylenol as a prescription-free drug. From then on, Tylenol has been one of Johnson & Johnson’s most widely sold and most profitable product, bringing an average year to year profit share of 33% (Griese, 2001). The 1982 Tylenol Tampering Widespread scare enveloped the nation when seven deaths have been attributed to Tylenol ingestion in September of 1982. Two off-duty firemen unintentionally hypothesized the connection of Tylenol while listening to police radios and talking about the supposedly mysterious deaths (Kaplan, 2005). Among the victims were a 12 year old student Mary Kellerman; three family members Adam Janus, his brother Stanley and Sta nley’s wife, Theresa, aged 27, 25 and 19 respectively; 27 years old mother of four, Mary Reiner; stewardess Paula Prince, 35 years of age; and 31 years old Mary McFarland. These victims have died within hours after taking Tylenol due to the cyanide content of the capsules, which was stronger by 10,000 times to the cyanide dose the human body can take (Kaplan, 2005). Johnson & Johnson acted promptly. At that time, nobody thought of such tragedy. These murders became the first of its kind. It was revealed in the investigations, that the capsules were tainted by cyanide through the act of an intent person because no specific evidence can link that the Tylenol capsules were laced by cyanide during manufacture (Kaplan, 2005). At the turn of events, Johnson & Johnson decided to put out a major recall for all the Tylenol capsules in the country. The manner in which Johnson & Johnson handled the controversy is regarded by professionals â€Å"to be one of the best in the history of p ublic relations† (Kaplan, 2005). In Griese’s book (2001), she cited the Tylenol tragedy as a befitting example on making the right decisions during time of crisis. Griese enumerated eight steps as guidelines in decision-making. The first step after the identification of the situation is to conduct research. The company McNeil Consumer Healthcare under Johnson & Johnson, which is