Although Johnson & Johnson’s overall profit fell 10.6 percent to $3.5 billion in the first quarter of 2013, over-the-counter sales through the company’s consumer division are up 14 percent in the United States, according to a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The company is putting more Tylenol and Motrin on stores shelves through its McNeil Consumer Healthcare Unit, located outside Philadelphia. Although McNeil also has plants in Lancaster, Pa., and in Puerto Rico, the one outside Philadelphia has yet to reopen after the FDA ordered its closure in 2010 because of production problems that led to dozens of recalls.
According to the Inquirer, Johnson & Johnson’s overall profit was hurt in part because the company took a $600 million charge to deal with litigation and the integration of Synthes, the medical-device manufacturer in West Chester that Johnson & Johnson acquired in June for $19.7 billion.
Synthes produced a bone cement called Norian XR, which has been linked to the deaths of five patients who received it for spine surgery.
The story notes that Johnson & Johnson also faces thousands of lawsuits related to hip and vaginal mesh implants.
A jury recently awarded $11.1 million to a woman injured by a vaginal mesh implant that Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon division manufactured. That case represented the first of more than 11,000 lawsuits about the devices to go to trial, filed by women complaining of health problems that include infection, organ perforation and chronic pain.
In a separate case, another jury awarded $8.3 million to a man injured by an ASR hip implant, which Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy Orthopaedics subsidiary manufactured. A number of studies show nearly half of the implants break down and need replacement within six years, as well as having a tendency to shed toxic metal debris in patients’ bodies.
You should consult with a doctor if you have any ongoing symptoms or health concerns from a Johnson & Johnson product. If you have significant injuries, you should also consult with a DePuy hip or transvaginal mesh lawyer to discuss your legal rights.
See the story here:
https://articles.philly.com/2013-04-18/business/38619184_1_caruso-synthes-jamp
