Congress Investigating Johnson & Johnson’s “Phantom Recall”

Congressional Democrats are investigating an alleged "phantom recall" by Johnson & Johnson, in which the company hired a contractor to buy up defective painkillers instead of issuing an immediate recall, according to the Associated Press. The company''s handling of problems with its Motrin tablets came to light last week at a Congressional hearing to examine ongoing quality issues with J&J medications. Lawmakers began investigating the company over its most recent recall of more than 130 million bottles of children''s medicine, some of which contained tiny particles of metal. On Tuesday lawmakers announced an investigation into the company''s handling of an older quality issue with more than 88,000 Motrin packets distributed in 2008. A memo titled "Motrin Purchase Project," obtained by congressional investigators instructs employees: "You should simply ''act'' like a regular customer while making these purchases. There must be no mention of this being a recall of the product!" J&J later recalled the medication in July 2009 after Food and Drug Administration officials learned about the contractor''s activities.