Following an embarrassing streak of recalls, Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) longtime CEO, Bill Weldon, has announced his resignation as the health care giant’s top executive. Product recalls ranging from Tylenol to Benadryl have cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars and have eroded consumer trust. Though Weldon has decided to step down, he does not intend to end his 31-year career at J&J unless asked to do so.

Products recalled under Weldon’s tenure resulted from claims of contamination. J&J’s Mcneil Consumer Healthcare unit alone announced 25 product recalls since September 2009. With all of these manufacturing defects has come increased scrutiny and suspicion of many J&J facilities – one facility in Fort Washington, Pa. is being completely rebuilt. The volume of affected products has alarmed industry insiders as well government officials.

At any point during the design and manufacturing process, significant failures may contribute to a product’s hazards, including (1) missteps during the early design stages; (2) inadequate testing to ensure safe performance; and (3) marketing efforts that include inadequate instructions and warnings, or even fail to include any relevant cautions. Even one act of negligence during the process from the product’s conception to its sale can cause catastrophic injuries and wrongful death once the product reaches the homes, schools, and workplaces of unsuspecting consumers.

Many tragic deaths and serious injuries could be avoided if corporations focused on preventive safety engineering and consumer education. Too often, manufacturers and distributors expend significant resources on self-serving public relations campaigns, rather than critical protection of the consumers who use their products.
If you or a family member have suffered significant personal injuries as the result of a defective product, contact the law office of Swartz & Swartz, P.C. Call (617) 742-1900 in the Boston area, or for clients in greater Massachusetts, New England, or other states across the U.S., call toll-free at 1-800-545-3732.
By James A. Swartz of Swartz & Swartz, P.C. – Permalink

About the Author: James Swartz

Mr. Swartz, our Managing and Principal Attorney at Swartz & Swartz P.C., is a nationally recognized and respected trial attorney as well as consumer advocate. His practice focuses on cases involving negligence, torts, products liability, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and other claims involving catastrophic injuries.