ABC News is reporting that McNeil Healthcare LLC is expanding its recall of Tylenol products. 54 million bottles have been added to the recall including Tylenol Extra Strength, Rolaids and some children's medicines.
McNeill initiated a voluntary recall of Tylenol Arthritis Relief Caplets at the end of December after consumer complaints of stomach problems. The problems were linked to the presence of a chemical called 2,4,6-tribromoanisole (TBA), which results from the breakdown of a chemical in wood pallets used to transport and store packaging materials for the drugs.
Now it appears that the problem extended into other Tylenol products as well, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The recall began last Decemeber after consumers reported an unusual moldy, musty or mildew-like odor in some bottles of Tylenol Arthritis Pain medicine. The tainted medicine was made at a plant in Puerto Rico. The FDA says the company has been too slow to expand its recall to other tainted products. You can find out more about McNeil's recalled products at mcneilproductrecall.com.
Feeling Rejected? Study Suggests a Tylenol Will Ease the Psychological Pain
Feeling rejected by that cute guy you met at a Christmas party? Get left off an invitation list? No problem, just take a Tylenol. That's the surprising result of a new study
that says you can treat psychological pain the same way as physical pain.
Getting the snub from friends can feel like a slap in the face. Now researchers say treating such social pain may be as easy as popping a pain pill. They warn, however, that more research is needed before anyone tries the approach.
The finding builds on research showing that psychological blows not only feel like they hurt us, they actually do. For instance, scientists have found a gene linked with both physical pain and a person's sensitivity to rejection. And some of the same brain regions are linked with both pain types.
So perhaps it's not surprising that a painkiller would alleviate both as well.
"The idea that a drug designed to alleviate physical pain should reduce the pain of social rejection seemed simple and straightforward based on what we know about neural overlap between social and physical pain systems," said lead researcher C. Nathan DeWall of the University of Kentucky. "To my surprise, I couldn't find anyone who had ever tested this idea."
But DeWall warns more research is needed to firm up the results. "Our findings do not constitute a call for widespread use of acetaminophen to cope with all types of personal problems," the researchers write in a forthcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science.
The study involved two experiments involving acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol.
This particular study used acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol. Two groups of people were psychologically evaluated. Then they were either given a placebo or the painkiller. The subjects played a computer games set up create feelings of social rejection (just the videogame you were hoping to get for Christmas!) while they had their brains scanned.
The painkillers didn't affect overall happiness over time, but those with painkillers felt less pain from being rejected.
The FDA is reporting that Johnson & Johnson has expanded the recall of Tylenol Arthritis Pain Caplet 100-count bottles with the red EZ-open cap. The recall has to with an unusual moldy, musty or mildew-like odor discovered by consumers. The odor has been linked to nausea, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea. All of the illnesses so far have been temporary and non-serious.
In November 2009, 5 lots of this product were recalled due to consumer reports of an unusual moldy, musty, or mildew-like odor that was associated with nausea, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea. The recall is being expanded, as a precaution, to include all TYLENOLŪ Arthritis Pain Caplet 100 count bottles with the distinctive red EZ-OPEN CAP.
The uncharacteristic smell is caused by the presence of trace amounts of a chemical called 2,4,6-tribromoanisole. The source of 2,4,6-tribromoanisole is believed to be the breakdown of a chemical used to treat wooden pallets that transport and store packaging materials. The health effects of this compound have not been well studied, and to date all of the observed events reported to McNeil were temporary and non-serious.
A list of lot numbers included in the recall can be found here.
Tylenol Children's and Infants' Liquid Medicines Recalled
CNN/Money reports that twenty-one Tylenol children's and infants' liquid medicines have been recalled. The recall was a "precautionary measure." No one has been reported to have fallen ill from the products.
In a written statement, McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Tylenol's manufacturer, said it detected bacteria in an inactive ingredient. While that ingredient was not used in any packaged final products, it was produced at the same time as those products.
In consultation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, McNeil, a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson (JNJ, Fortune 500), decided to "recall all product that utilized any of the raw material manufactured at the same time as the raw material that tested positive for the bacteria" as a precaution, adding that "the likelihood of a serious medical event is remote."
FDA Panel Votes to Reduce Maxium Daily Dose of Acetaminophen
The maximum daily dose listed on Tylenol, Excedrin and other over-the-counter painkillers will be reduced if the FDA takes the advice of experts on an FDA advisory panel, which voted Tuesday to reduce the maximum dose. There are concerns that using too much of a painkiller containing acetaminophen can cause liver damage.
The FDA advisory panel voted 21-16 Tuesday to lower the maximum daily dose of nonprescription acetaminophen, which is currently 4 grams - equal to eight pills of a drug such as Extra Strength Tylenol. The panel was not asked to recommend another maximum daily dose.
The panel also voted 24-13 to limit the maximum single dose of acetaminophen to 650 milligrams. The current single dose of Extra Strength Tylenol, for instance, is 1,000 milligrams.
The panel also voted 26-11 to make the 1,000-milligram dose of acetaminophen available only by prescription.
US News says the FDA is not obligated to follow the advice of its advisory panels but it usually does.
ABC News is 
The FDA is 
CNN/Money 
The maximum daily dose listed on Tylenol, Excedrin and other over-the-counter painkillers will be reduced if the FDA takes the advice of experts on an FDA advisory panel, 
