Tylenol Problems Affected Extra Strength And Rolaids - ABC News

// added January 15, 2010 // 5 comments //
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JohnnySoftware

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WellnessNews/tylenol-problems-affected-e...

A well known brand of popular aches & pains medication is making people sick - at their stomachs.

A chemical for killing mold and fungus has accidentally gotten into the ingredients used to make Tylenol and Rolaids. Ironically, the contaminated medications reportedly sometimes contain a moldy, musty smell.

Studies on the effects of the chemical have not been done on humans yet. In this outbreak, people are getting diarrhea, stomach aches, nausea, vomiting, and so forth according to some of the recall information from the manufacturer at the FDA web site. The outbreak has been going on since at least 2008 which is when the complaints about the smell and symptoms were first received. The FDA has criticized the maker of the medication.

The initial recall started late in 2009 and affected products manufactured the previous year. However, it has been expanded. In all at least 27 different products - including those for aches, pains, headaches, children, and arthritis - are involved now.

There is a voluntary recall. Voluntary recalls do not make the recalled products disappear from store shelves as consumers expect.

They should, but they do not. This has been verified by authorities in the past when they did spot checks of retailers. Therefore, you need to get the recall list(s) yourself, before you go to the store.

The original recall did not recall as many products as the total now that are considered "voluntarily recalled" (unenforced/unmonitored recall).

So you might have to consult multiple sources to get the full list. In other words, scattered around the manufacturer's web site and the FDA.
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5 comments // Tylenol Problems Affected Extra Strength And Rolaids - ABC News

  • JohnnySoftware
    • 0
      JohnnySoftware  

    • Here are some interesting coincidental facts. Maybe they are coincidence, maybe not.

      The swine flu epidemic peaked in September or October 2009. Then it just all of a sudden plumeted like it got the wind knocked out of its sails. That happened when authorities were expecting the exact opposite.

      Well, interesting that the recall of Tylenol started in September. Well, not really by itself. But take a look at the symptoms - http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pandemic-flu/Pages/Symptoms.aspx

      - headache
      - diarrhea or vomiting
      - loss of appetite
      - unusual tiredness
      - sore throat
      - aching muscles

      Okay, you just need 2 of those with a high fever, and you might have swine flu, says the UK National Health Service article above.

      But lets say you have a "headache" and you take the voluntary recall Tylenol medication and yours is contaminated. Then, it gives you some of the following: diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, stomach pain.

      So, now, you have 2-4 symptoms of swine flu.

      In the US, clinics were not actually testing for swine flu. If yuo had swine flu like symptoms, odds are you got counted as having swine flu. There is a test for swine flu virus. It was only performed in a minority of cases. They mostly skipped doing those tes and apparently did not do their swine flu infection rates based on them, just the "presumption" that if someone had a couple of the symptoms above, they had swine flu.

      CBS news said, hey, let us see those test results. They got the run around for a long tim. They finally got them. Of those cases that were actually tested, only a slim percentage of them actually had the swine flu. The other eighty something to ninety something percent did not have ANY flu. Here is the web page with the CBS report on it. Take a look at the graphs - http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/21/cbsnews_investigates/main5404829.shtml

      As you see in the graph, only 1% or 2% of the presumed swine flu cases that health departments bothered to test had swine flu (H1N1). The rest were all wrong guesses. Right after CBS got that data in its hans and published its report, swine flu practically evaporated from the USA. The health departments' graphs just showed the infections taking a nose dive.

      What ailed all those other people? Dunno. Almost none had H1N1 swine flu. Slim minority had regular flu. Maybe some had bacterial infections or bad colds. Or maybe they had a headache, took some medicne to make it go away and got a really bad upset stomach - in other words, "presumed" H1N1 swine flu.

      Maybe that is not what happened. But you have to admit, interesting coincidence that H1N1 got shy and lit out of town when at almost the same time, contaminated Tylenol got recalled and CBS news got its hands on the actual test results that showed H1N1 infection rate was not all big after all. Weird, eh?

    • 1 month ago
  • JohnnySoftware
  • JohnnySoftware
    • 0
      JohnnySoftware  

    • http://www.tylenol.com/page2.jhtml?id=tylenol/news/subp_news.inc

      Recall of Tylenol 100's for arthritis notice at Tylenol.com web site. No date on the web page.

      Description: "OL® Arthritis Pain Caplet 100 count bottles. These bottles can be identified by the distinctive red EZ-OPEN CAP. The recall is being initiated after identifying an unusual smell or taste associated with these lots that led to a small number of people reporting nausea and related symptoms".

      See web page for UPC and lot numbers affected.

    • 1 month ago
  • JohnnySoftware
  • JohnnySoftware
    • 0
      JohnnySoftware  

    • http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm195690.htm

      "Mcneil Consumer Healthcare Announces A Voluntary Nationwide Recall Of All Lots Of Tylenol® Arthritis Pain 100 Count With Ez-Open Cap"

      "In November 2009, 5 lots of this product were recalled due to consumer reports of an unusual moldy, musty, or mildew-like odor that was associated with nausea, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea. The recall is being expanded, as a precaution, to include all TYLENOL® Arthritis Pain Caplet 100 count bottles with the distinctive red EZ-OPEN CAP." [Page Last Updated: 12/31/2009 ]

    • 1 month ago
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