Massachusetts will get $900,000 in a settlement resulting from an investigation into New Jersey home health product giant Johnson & Johnson’s alleged misrepresentation of the quality of certain over-the-counter drugs.
The investigation, conducted by 43 state attorneys general, found that Johnson & Johnson business unit McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division unlawfully promoted over-the-counter drugs it manufactured as complying with federally-mandated Good Manufacturing Practices, despite the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found some McNeil manufacturing facilities weren’t in compliance between 2009 and 2011.
As a result, certain over-the-counter drugs manufactured by McNeil, including Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, St. Joseph Aspirin, Sudafed, Pepcid, Mylanta, Rolaids, Zyrtec, and Zyrtec Eye Drops, were deemed adulterated as a matter of federal law.
Johnson & Johnson will pay a total of $33 million in the multi-state settlement and update its marketing and promotion practices of over-the-counter drugs made by McNeil.
