An opinion piece in USA Today contrasts health care giant Johnson & Johnson’s actions in 1982, when seven people died after taking Tylenol spiked with cyanide; and in the late 2000’s when concerns started to emerge about the company’s all-metal hip implants.
In 1982, the piece says, the company pulled millions of bottles off store shelves within days, and quickly introduced tamper-resistant packaging that became an industry standard.
“Its speed and candor ...
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A story in the San Francisco Chronicle describes the DePuy Orthopaedics articular surface replacement hip implant as one of the largest medical device failures in history.
The article recounts the experience of a California woman who continued to suffer increasing pain after having her hip replaced in 2006. In 2010, a doctor finally informed her that she had one of the all-metal devices made by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics, ...
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In the latest of a long strong of product recalls, Johnson & Johnson is recalling and replacing more than 2 million meters that diabetics use to measure blood glucose levels, manufactured by the company’s LifeScan unit.
According to Reuters, the problem is a failure to operate properly at extremely high glucose levels.
The report says no patient injuries related to the malfunction have been reported in the United States. The company said ...
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In a piece for investing blog Seeking Alpha, contributor Sarah Maller discusses her reasons for giving up on health care giant Johnson & Johnson as a viable investment.
“Manufacturing problems and recalls are not just embarrassing,” she writes, “but they are a worrisome sign that management has taken its eye off the ball in many key respects.”
Maller specifically mentions a recall that Johnson & Johnson initiated for its LPS Diaphyseal Sleeve, ...
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Andrew Ekdahl, president of Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy Orthopaedics division, has testified that the company recalled its ASR hip implants because they weren’t meeting “clinical expectations,” and not because the company believed they had an underlying design defect.
But lawyers in a Chicago trial over injuries allegedly caused by the devices have produced a document that appears to contradict Ekdahl’s statement.
A Bloomberg story references a document from the Health Hazard/Risk Evaluation ...
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Consumer Reports describes new U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules for “metal-on-metal” hip implants, which feature both a ball and a socket coated in a combination of cobalt and chromium.
The new regulations will give manufacturers 90 days in which to file applications including the results of clinical trials and other “valid scientific evidence” showing that the devices are safe and effective. Manufacturers who fail to produce this evidence will be ...
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