Crisis In 1982 Tylenol Consumers example essay topic

Tylenol What Happened? In October of 1982, Tylenol, the leading pain-killer in the United States at the time faced a crisis. Seven people in Chicago were reported dead after taking Tylenol. 12-year-old Mary Kellerman of Elk Grove Village, Illinois, Adam Janus of Arlington Heights, Illinois, his brother Stanley Janus, and his wife Theresa Janus, Mary Reiner of Winfield, Paula Price, and Mary McFarland of Elmhurst Illinois was the last victim of the cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules. This happened b because there was Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules that had been distributed and tampered with. The capsules contained 65 milligrams of cyanide.

The amount necessary to kill a human is five to seven micrograms, which means that the person used 10,000 times more poison that what was needed... The tampering had occurred when the products reached the shelves. The connection between the deaths and the Tylenol was discovered within days by two off-duty firemen who were listing to their police radios. Phillip Cappitelli and Richard Key worth were the men to make the connection and tell there superiors. What did Tylenol do?

Tylenol is part of the Johnson & Johnson Company. Once they made the connection between the report and the Tylenol they put customer safety first, before they worried about the company's profit. The company immediately informed customers not to consume any type of Tylenol product. To throw away what they had until the extent of the tampering could be determined. Johnson and Johnson stopped all production and advertising. The recall included approximately 31 million bottles of Tylenol.

Tylenol's credo is, "We believe our first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses, and patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services. We are responsible for our employees, the men and women who work with us throughout the world. We are responsible to the communities in which we live and work and to the world community as well. Our final responsibility is to our stockholders.

How they recovered? To recover from the crisis Tylenol did a number of things. The first, they knew that that needed to gain consumer confidence so when they re-introduced the product there was a triple-seal tamper-resistant seal. They become the first company to comply with the Food and Drug Administration tamper-resistant packaging. Second they needed to motivate customers to buy the product, so they offered a $2.50 coupon on their purchase. They were available in the newspapers as well as a free number to call.

Third they needed to raise their stock. They did this by new pricing that gave consumers discounts as high as 25 percent. Fourth they had over 2,250 sales people make presentations for the medical community to gain people's confidence on the product. Where are they now?

Tylenol is the number one over-the-counter pharmaceutical company in the United States. They are where they are now because of how they handled the crisis. They did not worry about making money; they worried about the safety of their buyer. I think because of the crisis in 1982 Tylenol consumers feel safe knowing that they are quick to inform consumers of what is currently going on. Currently on Tylenol's website, web you can print coupons and read about their newest products and ask them any questions that you may have about their products. They even offer a scholarship that will award $250,000 in scholarships to students pursing careers in healthcare..