Chicago Tylenol Murders

Business Policy Project

(electronica whooshing)

- [Computer Voice] Newsbreak.

- Five people are dead

and a sixth near death in the Chicago area

after they took Tylenol capsules

that had been laced with poison.

(rock music)

- Somebody went, put
cyanide into the capsules

and seven people died in Chicago.

- Can I just say they
never found the dude.

- It was like crazy.

Everybody just started throwing
out their Tylenol, uh uh.

- [Tara] Tylenol is a pain
reliever and fever reducer.

It is used to treat many conditions

such as headache, muscle
aches, arthritis, back aches,

tooth aches, colds and fevers.

It is marketed as an effective painkiller

without the side effects of aspirin.

It originally was marketed
towards physicians

and pharmacists

as a safer alternative to aspirin.

The brand Tylenol was created

with the development of Tylenol
elixir for children in 1955.

The name was created

by using the letters of its
main ingredient, acetaminophen.

The sales team at McNeil Laboratories,

which was founded by Robert
McNeil formed this name.

McNeil Laboratories was
purchased by Johnson & Johnson

in 1959 for 33-million dollars.

In 1960,

McNeil Laboratories sold
their first non-prescription

called Tylenol under Johnson & Johnson.

Tylenol soon after

became one of Johnson & Johnson's

most popular over-the-counter drugs.

Tylenol sells a variety of
self healthcare products

to tackle some of the most
common issues of a cold or flu.

These include relieving
pain, reducing fevers

and relieving the symptoms
of allergies and coughs.

With the goal to become

the leader of the
over-the-counter sales worldwide,

Tylenol has hundreds
of different products.

- [Drew] In 1982, seven
people were reported dead

from the use of Extra Strength Tylenol.

It was reported that the
capsules had been tampered with

in the production process,

which means that someone

had purposely tampered with the capsules

by putting a 65-millimeter dose of cyanide

in each of the Tylenol capsules.

Cyanide is a poisonous chemical
compound that has many uses,

but most notably had been used to poison

and kill humans throughout history.

There were seven people who were killed

in the 1982 Tylenol crisis,
which included Mary Kellerman,

the first to be killed
at only 12-years old,

who was found dead face
down on the bathroom floor.

27-year old Adam Janus

died shortly after being
admitted to the hospital.

Stanley and Theresa Janus,

brother and sister-in-law of Adam.

27-year old Mary Reiner,

who was taking Tylenol after
giving birth a few days before.

A United Airlines stewardess Paula Prince

and the last victim Mary McFarland.

All the victims were from
Illinois near the Chicago area.

It was discovered by two firefighters,

Philip Cappitelli and Richard Keyworth,

who discovered that each of the victims

had all taken Tylenol
Extra Strength capsules.

- [Reporter] Five people are now dead,

one in critical condition

after taking Extra Strength Tylenol.

- [Laura] Johnson & Johnson

faced their worst nightmare in 1982.

People were dying from using their product

which had been tampered with.

The crisis team handled the
poisonings in two phases,

while sticking to their credo.

The first call to action

came from Johnson & Johnson's PR team.

They alerted the public via the media

to immediately stop consumption
of all Tylenol products.

Johnson & Johnson suffered
1.24-billion in losses

from the recall of over 31-million vials

of Extra Strength Tylenol.

Many people thought Tylenol

would never recover from this hit.

It is two of Johnson & Johnson's reaction

was the comeback phase.

The company took full responsibility
for the deaths in 1982.

They wanted to inform the public

that Tylenol was still a
safe and dependable product.

Tylenol came out with new packaging,

sealed lids

with the warning to not use if
seal has been tampered with.

Coupons were given out and a
new pricing program was set up.

Salespeople went to meet
with the medical community

to put Tylenol back in the market.

By standing by their credo,

they were able to maintain
their market share

as a solid competitor in the industry.

- [Aniello] Before September 29, 1982,

manufacturers such as Johnson & Johnson

felt that if they made a good product

and dealt fairly with consumers,
retailers and employees,

they can maintain a positive image

and be considered customer friendly.

The corporation had a positive
image among its employees.

It was listed as one of the
hundred best places to work.

The company credo was written
by Robert Wood Johnson

in 1943.

The Johnson & Johnson creator emphasizes

putting the consumer first,

a concept that would
make all the difference

during the mass Tylenol
recalls in the early 80's.

The credo identifies
four primary stakeholders

and addresses the company
duties to each group.

These groups include consumers,
employees, communities

and stock holders.

The credo sticks to serve
consumers by keeping costs low,

so reasonable prices can be maintained

and promptly and currently
servicing consumer order.

To address the needs of its employees,

the credo maintains

that Johnson & Johnson will
provide a sense of job security,

fair and adequate compensation

and clean and safe working conditions.

Under addressing consumers
and employees as individuals,

Johnson & Johnson credo
goes on to address itself

within the community.

It defines good citizen as
those who support good works,

charities and who accept
their fair share of taxes

with the belief that this will
encourage civic improvement

and lead to better health and education

within each community.

The last section of the
Johnson & Johnson credo

addresses stockholders.

Johnson & Johnson emphasizes
the importance of innovation

in generating a fair
return for stockholders.

To develop new ideas,

Johnson & Johnson is committed
to conducting research

and they're offering new programs,

purchasing new equipment and facilities

to aid in launching new products

and creating reserves for
protection of adverse climate.

A small, but significant
section of the credo

states that mistakes must be paid for.

This was blindly demonstrated

during the 1982 Tylenol recalls.

The Johnson & Johnson credo

that guided the company's
crisis team through the ordeal

are saving the company's image,

even as news accounts reported

the company's Tylenol product
was killing consumers.

The poisoning made it
necessary for Johnson & Johnson

to launch a public relations
program immediately

in order to save the integrity
of both their product

and their operation as a whole.

Johnson & Johnson handling of
the Tylenol tampering crisis

is considered by the
public relation experts

to be one of the best in the
history of public relations.

(electronic rubbing)