Tennessee Warns About Tylenol After Finding Capsule by Body
Tennessee health officials warned people not to use Tylenol capsules today after discovering what appeared to be cyanide in a man’s body and in an Extra-Strength Tylenol capsule found in a bottle near his bed.
Manufacturer Johnson & Johnson earlier this month pulled the non-aspirin pain reliever in capsule form off store shelves after a New York woman died from taking an Extra-Strength Tylenol capsule filled with cyanide.
The FBI joined the investigation into the death of Timothy R. Green, 32, whose partially decomposed body was found in his bed Sunday night. A bottle of Extra-Strength Tylenol containing a single capsule was found on the floor next to the bed, police said.
Dr. Charles Harlan, the Davidson County medical examiner, said early tests found cyanide in Green’s body, but officials were conducting further tests today.
“There are all different kinds of possibilities here,” he said. “It’s possible it could have been done by the victim himself.”
Dr. Robert Hutcheson, the state’s epidemiologist, asked Tennesseans not to dispose of Extra-Strength Tylenol in capsule form.
“We prefer that instead of throwing away or disposing of Tylenol in capsules that these be saved until we can make arrangements for testing of such capsules for poisons,” he said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
