Fixing Specific Problems; Fixing General Procedures

Another day, another update. This one from Johnson & Johnson's McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit.

Back in mid-January, I wrote about complaints -- including an FDA warning letter -- about some moldy-smelling bottles of McNeil's over-the-counter medications. McNeil apparently waited nearly two years from receiving its first complaints to recall batches of the products. The problem was eventually traced to "the breakdown of a chemical that is sometimes applied to wood that is used to build wood pallets that transport and store product packaging materials. The health effects of this chemical have not been well studied but no serious events have been documented in the medical literature." (This from a company press release at the time; my full blog post can be found here.)

My concern at the time was about trust, and how easily it can be lost and how hard to regain. Would I ever feel the same way about McNeil's branded products, like Motrin? (I have some back trouble, and trust me, I love my Motrin.) If I can't trust J&J completely, why not just buy a generic? (The answer to that question can be found in this Times story re manufacturing violations at a major generic manufacturer's Indian and New Jersey plants.)

Today's New York Times carries a piece by Natasha Singer (who also reported on the initial problem) in which McNeil seeks to reassure consumers that they have taken the steps necessary to prevent such incidents in the future. In a letter dated 5 February 2010 and posted on the FDA's website, McNeil's president Peter Luther wrote that the company "recognizes the seriousness of this situation" and outlined a "corrective action plan" involving "enhancements to the quality system," "organizational changes", and "senior management oversight".

It's not just the specific problems with chemicals leaching from pallets to products that are being addressed, the McNeil letter asserted, but company-wide complaint review processes and complaint handling processes are being changed. That's good news, as the next problem -- and there will inevitably be a next one -- will be something quite different.

But I still don't feel quite the same way about McNeil and J&J as I did before.