Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl recalls spur criminal probe, Congress is told

Top Food and Drug Administration officials told a congressional committee today that Johnson & Johnson, the venerable manufacturer of Children's Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl and other children's medicines, demonstrated a pattern of failing to control product quality at its McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit and is under criminal investigation.

They also revealed that while the company on April 30 recalled 40 varieties of infant's and children's liquid medicines, closed a plant and is now doing better, its production practices remain under scrutiny. They announced that the FDA has referred evidence about the company's actions to the agency's criminal investigative unit for possible criminal prosecution

"There was a corporate culture of non-compliance. It was system wide. This is a company that had major problems with compliance," Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, the FDA's principal deputy commissioner told members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.