Another day, another recall from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ).
This time, the company is recalling some chewable Rolaids products because of reports of metal and/or wood fragments in the products (!). This follows in the wake of I-can-no-longer-keep-track-of-how-many other recalls stretching back through this year, including some potentially damaging ones like the DePuy hips, a huge batch of kiddie medicines, and a bunch of product made in Puerto Rico.
So, here's what I'm wondering - are the operations at Johnson & Johnson a complete, total, and unmitigated fustercluck, or is JNJ taking a very close look at its processes and systems and going out of its way to be more responsive to any reports of problems? After all, JNJ may have reason to fear the long arm of the FDA in this new safety-obsessed regime and may hope that self-reporting and quick action will spare them some of the wrath.
Perhaps even more to the point, if this is going on at JNJ, is it also going on at Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL), Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT) and other companies in the drug, device, and OTC market? And are we just all paying a little more attention to the JNJ recalls because there's a little schadenfreude in it all and we enjoy thinking "oh here they go again ... another JNJ recall. It must be another day that ends in 'y'"?
As I mentioned in passing on this blog a little while ago, I recently found a prescription-only narcotic pain reliever mixed into my factory-sealed bottle of over-the-counter antihistamine. That's not exactly the kind of mistake I'm likely to file under the "stuff happens" category, but maybe it shows that these mistakes are a lot more common than we realize and it is only the bullseye/spotlight on JNJ right now that is making it obvious just how often these things happen.
Disclosure - I own shares of JNJ
2 comments:
Stephen,
It is hard to keep score, but Ed Silverman does just that at excellent industry blog pharmalot.com
http://www.pharmalot.com/2010/12/the-sorry-list-of-johnson-johnson-troubles/
I'd point out that there has been a lot of panic based on the JNJ recall, but none have been really serious or health threatening. Even the hips (not to downplay) weren't truly failing, but were not lasting as long as they should have without requiring additional attention / surgeries. This latest Rolaids recall though looks to be the first time the company appears in front of the problem and public about addressing it. Good, even if it does incur further media wrath, I see this as positive.
Yep, I probably wasn't clear about that in the posting - I am actually glad to see the company get in front of this for once.
And like I said, I wonder if JNJ's problems are really so exceptional, or if we're all just watching more closely.
As for the DuPuy recall ... if I hear one more ambulance-chasing ad talking about "DaPwee" hips, I'm going to scream.
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