FBI Discounts Tampering at Tylenol Plant
Cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules blamed in the death of a Peekskill, N.Y., woman were probably tampered with after they left the factory, the preliminary results of an FBI investigation disclosed Friday.
“Our investigation to date indicates that it is unlikely that contamination occurred during the manufacturing stages,” FBI spokesman Lane Bonner said. “However, we will continue to examine all possibilities wherein the tampering occurred.”
The FBI made its announcement as investigators continued efforts to pinpoint the source of the cyanide, which also was found in another Tylenol bottle in the New York area.
Views Differ
Earlier this week, FBI agents had said that “there was no evidence of tampering,” but they cautioned: “That does not mean tampering did not occur.” At the same time, a New York district attorney investigating the case said he believes that the capsules were altered before they left the factory.
On Feb. 8, Diane Elsroth, 23, died after taking two cyanide-laced Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules. Four days later, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Frank E. Young issued a nationwide warning to consumers to avoid taking the product after the second bottle of tainted capsules was found. Although both bottles were bought in suburban Westchester County, N.Y., one was manufactured in Pennsylvania and the other in Puerto Rico.
Meanwhile, Young held a two-hour closed meeting Friday with representatives of 15 consumer groups who urged him to conduct a public education campaign to alert consumers to the signs of tampering. Among the tactics they suggested were the use of leaflets and changes in labeling.
Young said he expects product tampering to “peak” in the next few weeks and described methods that consumers can use to detect deliberate tampering and possible contamination of medicines.
Must Look at Medicine
“Consumers should take a layer of self-protection. Anything can be tampered with when you have a devious person bent on some kind of criminal act,” Young said. “It’s important to look at medicine to see if it’s been tampered with.”
Attorney William Schultz of the Public Citizen Litigation Group said most of the meeting’s participants were pleased with the way that agency officials have handled the situation. “This is one of those issues that’s a real tragedy, but there’s little the government can do about it,” Schultz said.
In the case of the contaminated Tylenol, a yellowish-brown color was clearly visible when the red-and-white capsules were held up to light. The two halves of the capsule were clearly not aligned, Young said.
Johnson & Johnson, which makes Tylenol, already has halted the manufacture of Tylenol capsules, and the FDA is considering an overall ban on the manufacture of non-prescription capsules.
‘Doesn’t Make Sense’
But one consumer advocate present at the meeting said: “It’s unlikely the agency will ban them. The general consensus is that it doesn’t make sense to ban the capsules. If they take them off the market, the next time it could happen to food, pills or liquids.”
Similarly, the pharmaceutical industry would challenge attempts to suspend the use of capsules, a spokesman for the Proprietary Assn. of non-prescription medicine manufacturers said earlier this week.
The FDA will conduct three or four more weeks of “fact-finding sessions” with health officials, physicians’ groups, consumers and health care professionals before announcing a final decision on the ban next month.
