A Replay of the Tylenol Scare

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New York, followed by 13 other states and the District of Columbia, banned the sale of all Tylenol capsules, and 15 other states urged their voluntary withdrawal from stores. Johnson & Johnson, as well as the Food and Drug Administration, issued a national alert against using Tylenol in capsule form. Surveys conducted by the company, which spent an estimated $300 million to reclaim Tylenol's market position after the 1982 killings, indicated that so far, Tylenol users were not as alarmed as they had been four years ago. That was heartening news for the pharmaceutical giant, since Tylenol alone accounts for some 20% of profits from total company sales of $6 billion. Even so, Johnson & Johnson stock fell nearly 6 points during the week, a drop of almost 11%.