J&J Insists It Remains "In Charge" of Business Unit Decisions

HopeTracker| The FDA is weighing criminal penalties against Johnson & Johnson for a “pattern of noncompliance” with good manufacturing practices. J&J is known for empowering independent decision-making at its  250 global units.

Colleen Goggins, who oversees J&J’s consumer business, assured the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that the corporate parent has been “very involed” in last month’s recall of several children’s medicines.

The recall announced on April 30 involved more than 136 million bottles of Benadryl, Motrin, Tylenol and Zyrtec for children and infants, according to the FDA. Some of the pain and cold medicines might have had more active ingredient than approved, the company said, while others might have had metallic particles in them. FDA investigators found bacteria in some raw materials.

The company shut down the Fort Washington plant until it could fix manufacturing problems there. J&J is in the midst of a major cost-cutting initiative, although Gogggins assured the House Panel that cost-cutting in quality control wasn’t the problem in the unit.  via WSJ