Chairman Towns Announces Hearing to Examine Johnson & Johnson Recalls

Chairman Towns Announces Hearing to Examine Johnson & Johnson Recalls     
Chairman Towns Announces Johnson & Johnson Hearing
Announces second J&J hearing on circumstances surrounding pediatric, "phantom" recalls; invites Weldon, Goggins

WASHINGTON - Chairman Edolphus "Ed" Towns (D-NY) today announced that the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a second hearing on Thursday, September 30, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. to examine the circumstances surrounding Johnson & Johnson's recall of over 135 million bottles of infant and children's medicines produced by Johnson & Johnson/McNeil Consumer Healthcare, including such widely used products as Children's Tylenol, Infant's Tylenol, Children's Motrin, and Children's Benadryl.  The hearing will also examine the circumstances surrounding the "phantom recall" of a particular Motrin product, which became public as a result of the Committee's hearing on May 27, 2010.

In announcing the September 30th hearing, Chairman Towns stated, "This is about the safety of trusted medication that our children and grandchildren use. The evidence we have uncovered since our first hearing is extremely troubling." Today, Chairman Towns also released internal Johnson & Johnson/McNeil communications and email communications from the subcontractors who carried out the phantom recall.

Witnesses invited to testify include:

Mr. William C. Weldon
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Johnson & Johnson

Ms. Colleen Goggins
Worldwide Chairman, Consumer Group
Johnson & Johnson