The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the company that manufactures Tylenol, Motrin, and several other popular over-the-counter medications, has agreed to plead guilty to one federal criminal charge in the case the government filed against the company for selling medications contaminated by pieces of metal. The company, which is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, has also agreed to pay a $25 million fine.

According to the DOJ, in 2009, complaints were made by consumers who found “black specks” floating in bottles of liquid Infants’ Tylenol they had purchased. Testing revealed those particles to be nickel, iron and chromium. The contaminated products had all been manufactured at a plant in Pennsylvania.

An investigation by the company found that those particles had been introduced into the medication at some point during manufacturing. However, not only did the company not take the necessary steps to fix the issue at the plant, they continued to sell the contaminated products for another year before finally issuing a recall in 2010. To compound the problem of contaminated medication, when announcing the recall, McNeil also announced that the products may have contained more of an active drug ingredient than what was put on the packaging labels.

The company claims that no child was injured from the tainted products. One family did file a lawsuit against the company after their 4-year-old son died; however, the lawsuit was dismissed by a court because the boy’s death had occurred after the recall.

In addition to the contaminated medication, the company has come under federal scrutiny several times over the past few years for other dangerous faulty manufacturing issues. These issues included incorrect direction labeling on medications as well as products which had moldy odors. These problems have resulted in millions of bottles of medicines having to be recalled.

If you or a loved one have been injured due to a dangerous or defective product, contact an experienced Westport personal injury attorney to find out what your legal options may be against the product’s manufacturer. Attorney Richard H. Raphael has extensive experience representing clients in product liability cases. Call 203-226-6168 for a free consultation.