Tylenol (brand)

Tylenol PM (left) and Tylenol (right)

Tylenol /ˈtaɪlənɒl/ is an American brand of drugs advertised for reducing pain, reducing fever, and relieving the symptoms of allergies, cold, cough headache, and influenza. The active ingredient of its original flagship product is paracetamol, an analgesic and antipyretic; it is commonly known in North America as acetaminophen, and elsewhere in the world by its international nonproprietary name, paracetamol. Like the words acetaminophen and paracetamol, the brand name Tylenol is derived from the chemical name for the compound, N-aceTYL-para-aminophENOL (APAP).^[1] The brand name is owned by McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.^[2]

Medical uses

The active ingredient in Tylenol is paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, a widely used over-the-counter analgesic (pain reliever) and antipyretic (fever reducer).^[3][4]

1982 Chicago Tylenol murders and first recall

On September 29, 1982, a "Tylenol scare" began when the first of seven individuals died in metropolitan Chicago, after ingesting Extra Strength Tylenol that had been deliberately contaminated with cyanide. Within a week, the company pulled 31 million bottles of tablets back from retailers, making it one of the first major product recalls in American history.^[5]

As a result of the crisis, all Tylenol capsules were discontinued, as were capsules of other brand names. Retained by McNeil's president, Joseph Chiesa, new product consultant Martin Calle of management strategist Calle & Company conceived the world's first tamper-resistant gelatin-enrobed capsule called "Tylenol Gelcaps," which proved to resuscitate the 92% of capsule-segment sales lost to the recall. The tamper-resistant, triple-sealed safety containers were swiftly placed on the shelves of retailers 10 weeks after the withdrawal, and other manufacturers followed suit. The crisis cost the company more than $100 million, but Tylenol regained 100% of the market share it had before the crisis. The Tylenol murderer was never found, and a $100,000 reward offered by Johnson & Johnson remains unclaimed.

Tylenol remains a top seller, controlling about 35% of the painkiller market in North America, according to a study published in 2003.^[6]

2010 Tylenol recall

On January 15, 2010, Johnson & Johnson announced a voluntary recall of several hundred batches of popular medicines, including Benadryl, Motrin, Rolaids, Simply Sleep, St. Joseph Aspirin and Tylenol.^[7] The recall was due to complaints of a musty smell which is suspected to be due to contamination of the packaging with the chemical 2,4,6-tribromoanisole.^[8] The full health effects of 2,4,6-tribromoanisole are not known but no serious events have been documented in medical literature.^[9] The recall came 20 months after McNeil first began receiving and investigating consumer complaints about moldy-smelling bottles of Tylenol Arthritis Relief caplets, according to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The recall included 53 million bottles of over-the-counter products including Tylenol, Motrin and Rolaids, Benadryl and St. Joseph's Aspirin, involving lots in the Americas, the United Arab Emirates and Fiji.^[10]

On April 30, 2010, another recall was issued for 40 products including liquid infant and children's pain relievers, Tylenol, and Motrin and allergy medications Zyrtec and Benadryl.^[10] An FDA report said its inspectors found thick dust and grime covering certain equipment, a hole in the ceiling, and duct tape-covered pipes at the Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, facility that made 40 products recalled. New testing regulations were enacted after the recall to ensure product quality and safety. ^[11]

On May 5, 2010, the FDA confirmed^[12] that the bacterium found at the Johnson & Johnson plant that made the recalled Children's Tylenol was Burkholderia cepacia, a bacterium often resistant to common antibiotics.^[13] The bacteria were found on the outside of certain product-containing drums, but not in the finished product. The CDC has stated that Burkholderia cepacia is not likely to cause health problems for those with healthy immune systems, but those with weaker ones and those with chronic lung diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, could be more susceptible to infection.

Advertising

Tylenol has many different advertisement approaches. One of these advertisement campaigns focuses on "getting you back to normal", whereas the other commercials focus on Tylenol's current slogan, "Feel better, Tylenol". In the "Feel better, Tylenol" commercials, Tylenol places emphasis on the importance of sleep; various people are seen sleeping in this commercial while a voiceover describes how sleep can help repair and heal the human body during times of aches and pains.^[14] In the "getting you back to normal" commercial, Tylenol places more emphasis on helping its consumers get back to their daily routines; many different people are shown first experiencing headaches and other sorts of body pain, where a voiceover then states that Tylenol Rapid Release can help rid aches and pains; the various people are then showed enjoying their everyday lives, and are seen as "back to normal".^[15]

In an older commercial from 1986, Tylenol emphasized that it is the drug that American hospitals trust the most. In this ad, Susan Sullivan told the consumer that Tylenol was a drug that could be trusted by Americans since many doctors also trusted it; she went on to state that doctors prescribed Tylenol four times more often than other leading pain relieving drugs combined.^[16]

A form that contains dextromethorphan, pseudoephedrine, acetaminopine, and chlorphenir, is sold as Cotylenol.^[17][18]

See also

• Codeine
• List of paracetamol brand names
• Panadol
• Paracetamol toxicity

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tylenol.

• Official website
• New Court Docs: Maker of Tylenol Had a Plan to Block Tougher Regulation by Jeff Gerth and T. Christian Miller, ProPublica, September 21, 2015
• New Trial Records: Doctors Recommended Tylenol — But Only at Lower Doses by Jeff Gerth and T. Christian Miller, ProPublica, October 14, 2015