The Tylenol Mafia (62 page)

Attorney Paul Noland:
 
David Berg and Stephen Robb.
“Crisis Management and the ‘Paradigm Case,’” in
Rhetorical and Critical Approaches to Public Relations
, ed.
Toth
, Elizabeth.
Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1992, pg. 92-107.

During the 28 months Zomax: Weiser, Benjamin; Walsh, Elsa. “Drug Firm’s Strategy: Avoid Trial, Ask Secrecy.”
The Washington Post
, October 25, 1988.

In February 1982, immediately following Mintz, Morton.
“Drug fiends: even inside Johnson & Johnson, public safety can take a back seat to profits.”
Washington Monthly
, December 1991.

 
“
indications
during pre-marketing”:
 
Weiser, Benjamin; Walsh, Elsa. “Drug Firm’s Strategy: Avoid Trial, Ask Secrecy.”
The Washington Post
, October 25, 1988.

The wife of one person Weiser, Benjamin; Walsh, Elsa.
“Drug Firm’s Strategy: Avoid Trial, Ask Secrecy.”
The Washington Post
, October 25, 1988.

James Burke himself:
 
Mintz, Morton. “Drug fiends: even inside Johnson & Johnson, public safety can take a back seat to profits.”
Washington Monthly
, December 1991.

 
“
seems
to have a different cause”:
 
Weiser, Benjamin; Walsh, Elsa. “Drug Firm’s Strategy: Avoid Trial, Ask Secrecy.”
The Washington Post
, October 25, 1988.

FDA and the manufacturer, McNeil Pharmaceutical, have been working on a stronger warning for the drug: FDA.
“Reactions to Zomax.”
FDA Talk Paper
: T83-11, March 4, 1983.

The combined effort:
 
Weiser, Benjamin; Walsh, Elsa. “Drug Firm’s Strategy: Avoid Trial, Ask Secrecy.”
The Washington Post
, October 25, 1988.

 
“In view of Zomax’s”:
 
Associated Press. “Zomax controversy:
 
FDA's regulation of painkiller shows agency not protecting public: report.”
The Galveston Daily News
, December 12, 1983.

 
“In seeking an advisory”:
 
House Committee on Government Operations,
FDA’s Regulation of Zomax
, House Report 98-584, 98
^th
Cong., 1
^st
session, 1983.

 
“I think we did a good job”:
 
Weiser, Benjamin; Walsh, Elsa. “Drug Firm’s Strategy: Avoid Trial, Ask Secrecy.”
The Washington Post
, October 25, 1988.

 
“They were avoidable”:
 
Weiser, Benjamin; Walsh, Elsa. “Drug Firm’s Strategy: Avoid Trial, Ask Secrecy.”
The Washington Post
, October 25, 1988.

 
“This is a company”:
 
Michael
deCourcy
Hinds.
“Drug Withdrawn After Five Deaths.”
The New York Times
, March 5, 1983.

 
“We resisted too much”:
 
Weiser, Benjamin; Walsh, Elsa. “Drug Firm’s Strategy: Avoid Trial, Ask Secrecy.”
The Washington Post
, October 25, 1988.

McNeil used protective orders, Benjamin; Walsh, Elsa. “Drug Firm’s Strategy: Avoid Trial, Ask Secrecy.”
The Washington Post
, October 25, 1988.

 
“As we demonstrated”:
 
Weiser, Benjamin; Walsh, Elsa. “Drug Firm’s Strategy: Avoid Trial, Ask Secrecy.”
The Washington Post
, October 25, 1988.

“I would be remiss”:
 
Mintz, Morton. “Drug fiends: even inside Johnson & Johnson, public safety can take a back seat to profits.”
Washington Monthly
, December 1991.

In the last two months of 1985:
 
Mintz, Morton. “Drug fiends: even inside Johnson & Johnson, public safety can take a back seat to profits.”
Washington Monthly
, December 1991.

“The subcommittee’s 16-month”:
 
FDA’s Regulation of the New Drug Suprol, Hearing before a Subcommittee of the House Committee On Government Operations, 100
^th
Cong. Session 417-418, 1987.

J&J spokesperson, James Murray:
 
“Company Halts Sale of Disputed Painkiller.”
New York Times
, May 16, 1987.

 
“Flexin has produced”:
 
Associated Press.
“Cites Firm’s Secrecy on Drug’s Harm.”
The Des Moines Register
, April 29, 1964.

 
“The facts are”:
 
Associated Press.
“Cites Firm’s Secrecy on Drug’s Harm.”
The Des Moines Register
, April 29, 1964.

One very public
embarrassment :
Seglin
, Jeffrey L.
The Right Thing; A Company Credo, as Applied or Not.”
The New York Times
, July 15, 2001.

The raid came: Mintz, Morton. “Drug fiends: even inside Johnson & Johnson, public safety can take a back seat to profits.”
Washington Monthly
, December 1991.

 
“Mistakes were made”:
 
Seglin
, Jeffrey L.
The Right Thing; A Company Credo, as Applied or Not.”
The New York Times
, July 15, 2001.

Another notable sanction:
 
Associated Press. “Company penalized over acne cream.”
Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune
, April 11, 1995.

10
     
The Madman Myth

 
“
hunt
for the mad Tylenol killer”:
 
Wolohan
, Linda. “Poisoned Pills kill at Least Six Persons.”
The Progress,
October 2, 1982.

In a similar vein: Connell, Christopher. “New Laws Not Expected Soon.”
The Daily Collegian
, October 7, 1982.

“We’ve got a person”:
 
Doyle, Pat. “A year after Tylenol killings: sorrow lingers, answers elude
.”
The Sunday Herald
, September 25, 1983.

 
“I don’t think”:
 
Doyle, Pat. “A year after Tylenol killings: sorrow lingers, answers elude.”
The Sunday Herald
, September 25, 1983.

Dr. Robert Reifman, Director of the Cook County:
 
United Press International.
“Tylenol Killer ‘Sadistic Loner.’”
Pharos-Tribune
, October 4, 1982.

Douglas, according to the biography on his web site: John Douglas
Mindhunter
website. Accessed July 1, 2011
http://www.johndouglasmindhunter.com/home.php

 
“Despite the fact”: Douglas, John.
Mind Hunter
. New York: Pocket Books, 2000.

 
“The country was”:
 
Douglas, John.
Mind Hunter
. New York: Pocket Books, 2000.

Dawn Hobbs, a journalist:
 
Bell, Rachael.
The Tylenol Terrorist.
2011
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/terrorists/tylenol_murders/3.html

 
“We don’t know”:
 
Doyle, Pat. “A year after Tylenol killings: sorrow lingers, answers elude.”
The Sunday Herald
, September 25, 1983.

A survey conducted on October 8, 1982 by Audits and Surveys Inc.
Zdep
, Stanley M.;
Roshwalb
, Irving.
“The Affects of the Tylenol Poisonings on Consumer Fears.”
Audits and Surveys Inc., 1982.

Video footage shown:
Nightly News
. NBC, October 8, 1982.

Tyrone Fahner suggested that one bottle of poisoned Tylenol had been placed: Dowling, John.
“Leads ‘substantial’ in the Tylenol case.”
Syracuse Herald Journal
, October 4, 1982.

Dr. R.J. Cowles:
 
Seery
, Tom; Sutter, Jane. “Tylenol off Burlington shelves as a precaution.”
The Hawkeye
, October 1, 1982.

Jim Adamson, a spokesperson: United Press International. “Kansans told not to use Tylenol.”
Salina Journal
, October 3, 1982.

 
“The media did”:
 
Duerksen
, Susan. “Last 2 families of Tylenol dead file damage suits.”
The Daily Herald
, June 2, 1983.

 
“We’re still in the process”: United Press International. “‘Not Close’ To Arrest: Tylenol Case Stumps Authorities
.” Tyrone Daily Herald
, October 8, 1982.

“
rational
evil doer”:
 
United Press International. “Tylenol poisoning probe narrowed to 4 suspects.”
Pacific Stars and Stripes
, October 11, 1982.

 
“Of course, the killer:
 
Malcolm, Andrew H. “3 Years Later, Illinois is Still Trying to Solve Tylenol Deaths.”
The New York Times
, February 21, 1986.

11
     
Handling the Evidence

The Food and Drug Administration, the investigative authorities: Gates, Thomas N.
 
“McNeil Consumer Products Co. ‘Dear Doctor’ Letter”: signed by Dr. Thomas N. Gates, October 13, 1982.

FDA Deputy Commissioner, Mark Novitch, confirmed: Associated Press.
“Tylenol task force being cut back.”
The Chronicle-Telegram: November 9, 1982 -- New York Times News Service. “Over-counter drug safety is a priority.”
Wisconsin State Journal
, October 6, 1982.

The
New York Times
reported: “Cyanide is Discovered in Tylenol in an April Death in Philadelphia.”
The New York Times
, October 7, 1982.

There were about 165,000 outlets nationwide: Reis, Al; Trout, Jack.
Marketing Warfare
.
New York: The McGraw Hill Companies, 2006, Pg. 62.

About 11,000 retail outlets: Beck, Melinda, Mary Hagar, Ron
LaBreque
, Sylvester Monroe,
Linda
Prout
.
"The Tylenol Scare."
Newsweek,
October 11, 1982.

2,000 were in:
 
David Berg and Stephen Robb.
“Crisis Management and the ‘Paradigm Case,’” in
Rhetorical and Critical Approaches to Public Relations
, ed.
Toth
, Elizabeth.
Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1992, pg. 92-107.

United Press International reported: United Press International. “Another Cyanide Death Prevented.”
Altoona Mirror
, October 22, 1982.

By Saturday afternoon:
Madrzyk
, Anna; Gores, Paul.
 
“Cyanide Killer Search Widens.”
The Sunday Herald
: October 3, 1982.

“It is well to remember that two unused bottles of Poisoned Tylenol were recovered”: “Letter to the Stockholders,”
Johnson & Johnson 1982 Annual Report
, 1983.

J&J had brought in 30 toxicologists: David Berg and Stephen Robb.
“Crisis Management and the ‘Paradigm Case,’” in
Rhetorical and Critical Approaches to Public Relations
, ed.
Toth
, Elizabeth.
Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1992, pg. 92-107.

Authorities also could have:
 
Houston, Jack. “Local Firm Helps Put Tylenol to
The
Test.”
Chicago Tribune
, February 23, 1986.

12
           
Selling the Myth

In J&J’s 1982 Annual Report: “Letter to the Stockholders,” in Johnson & Johnson’s 1982 Annual Report, 1983.

 
“A demonstration without parallel”: Foster, Lawrence. “The Tylenol Tragedy: A Crime Without Precedent,” in
Communicating in a Healthcare Crisis
, ed. Pines, Wayne L. 173-182, Church Falls:
FDAnew
s
, 2007.