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The Tylenol murders occurred in the autumn of 1982, when seven people in the Chicago, Illinois area in the United States died after ingesting Extra Strength Tylenol medicine capsules which had been laced with cyanide poison. This incident was the first known case of death caused by deliberate product tampering. The perpetrator has never been caught, but the incident led to reforms in the packaging of over-the-counter substance and federal anti-tampering laws. 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Chicagoland. ...
Tylenol (paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen) is a popular American brand of pain reliever and fever reducer, sold by Johnson & Johnson. ...
Medicine is the branch of health science and the sector of public life concerned with maintaining human health or restoring it through the treatment of disease and injury. ...
A cyanide is any chemical compound that contains the cyano group C≡N, with the carbon atom triple-bonded to the nitrogen atom. ...
The skull and crossbones symbol traditionally used to label a poisonous substance. ...
Over-the-counter substances, also abbreviated OTC, are drugs and other medical remedies that may be sold without a prescription and without a visit to a medical professional, in contrast to prescription only medicines (POM). ...
The incidents In the early morning of Wednesday, September 29, 1982, 12-year old Mary Kellerman of Elk Grove Village died after taking a capsule of Extra Strength Tylenol. Adam Janus of Arlington Heights, died in the hospital shortly thereafter. His brother, Stanley (of Lisle) and his wife Theresa died after gathering to mourn, taking pills from the same bottle. By October 1, 1982, the poisoning had also taken the lives of Paula Prince of Chicago, Mary Reiner of Winfield, and Mary McFarland of Elmhurst. Investigators soon discovered the Tylenol link. Urgent warnings were broadcast, and police drove through Chicago neighborhoods issuing warnings over loudspeakers. September 29 is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years). ...
1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Incorporated Village in 1956. ...
Incorporated Village in 1836. ...
Lisle is a village located in DuPage County, Illinois. ...
October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Official website: http://egov. ...
Winfield is an incorporated village located in DuPage County, Illinois. ...
Elmhurst is a city located in DuPage County, Illinois. ...
As the tampered bottles came from different factories, and the seven deaths had all occurred in the Chicago area, the possibility of sabotage during production was ruled out. Instead, the culprit was believed to have entered various supermarkets and drug stores over a period of weeks, pilfered packages of Tylenol from the shelves, adulterated their contents with solid cyanide compound at another location, and then replaced the bottles. In addition to the five bottles which led to the victims' deaths, three other tampered bottles were discovered. Exterior appearance of typical American supermarket (a Safeway) A supermarket or grocery store is a store that sells a wide variety of food. ...
Pharmacy (from the Greek φάρμακον = drug) is the profession of compounding and dispensing medication. ...
A cyanide is any chemical compound that contains the cyano group C≡N, with the carbon atom triple-bonded to the nitrogen atom. ...
Johnson & Johnson, the parent company of McNeil, distributed warnings to hospitals and distributors and halted Tylenol production and advertising. On October 5, 1982, it issued a nationwide recall of Tylenol products; an estimated 31 million bottles were in circulation, with a retail value of over US$100 million. The company also advertised in the national media for individuals not to consume any products that contained Tylenol. When it was determined that only capsules were tampered with, they offered to exchange all Tylenol capsules already purchased by the public with solid tablets. Johnson & Johnson NYSE: JNJ is an international pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1885. ...
October 5 is the 278th day of the year (279th in Leap years). ...
1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Investigation The crime has never been solved, although an opportunistic extortionist with no proven connection to the deaths had made a money demand. This person, one James W. Lewis, was arrested and ended up serving 13 years of a 20-year prison term for the extortion. Extortion is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person obtains money, behaviour, or other goods and/or services from another by wrongfully threatening or inflicting harm to this person, reputation, or property. ...
James W. Lewis was convicted of extortion in relation to the 1982 Tylenol scare. ...
A $100,000 reward, posted by Johnson & Johnson for the capture and conviction of the "Tylenol Killer", has never been claimed.
Aftermath Johnson & Johnson was praised by the media at the time for its handling of the incident. While at the time of the scare the market share of Tylenol collapsed from 35% to 8%, it rebounded in less than a year, a move credited to J&J's prompt and aggressive reaction. In November it reintroduced capsules, but in a new, triple-sealed package, coupled with heavy price promotions, and within several years Tylenol had become the most popular over-the-counter analgesic in the United States. An analgesic (colloquially known as painkiller) is any member of the diverse group of drugs used to relieve pain and to achieve analgesia. ...
A number of copycat attacks involving Tylenol and other products (see Excedrin) ensued during the following years. However, the incident did inspire the pharmaceutical, food, and consumer product industries to develop tamper-resistant packaging and improved quality control methods. The term copycat (also written as copy-cat or copy cat) refers to the tendency of humans to duplicate the behavior of others, as expressed in the saying, monkey see, monkey do. ...
Excedrin is an over the counter pain reliever, typically in the form of tablets or caplets. ...
In the field of computer security, system hardware is said to be tamper-resistant if it is difficult to modify or subvert, even for an assailant who has physical access to the system. ...
In engineering and manufacturing, quality control and quality engineering are involved in developing systems to ensure products or services are designed and produced to meet or exceed customer requirements and expectations. ...
Additionally, the tragedy prompted the pharmaceutical industry to move away from capsules, which were easy to contaminate as a foreign substance could be placed inside without obvious signs of tampering. Within the year, the Food and Drug Administration introduced more stringent regulations to avoid product tampering. This led to the eventual replacement of the capsule with the solid "caplet" as a drug delivery form and to the addition of tamper-evident safety-seals to bottles of many sorts. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States is the government agency responsible for regulating food (human and animal), dietary supplements, drugs (human and animal), cosmetics, medical devices (human and animal), biologics, and blood products in the United States. ...
Tamper-evident devices are ones designed to make it easy to see whether they have been altered. ...
External links The title page of snopes. ...
Further reading - Wolnik KA, Fricke FL, Bonnin E, Gaston CM, Satzger RD. The Tylenol tampering incident--tracing the source. Anal Chem 1984;56:466A-8A, 470A, 474A. (Medline citation)
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