House committee to investigate Johnson & Johnson after kids' Tylenol recall

A House committee is looking at Johnson & Johnson after the company announced a recall of children's medicines. "Lawmakers requested information on Thursday from regulators about Johnson & Johnson's recall of Children's Tylenol and other over-the-counter pediatric medicines, saying the company's repeated recalls 'point to a major problem' with production," Reuters/The New York Times reports.

"The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has opened an investigation after Johnson & Johnson recalled 40 widely used children's pain and allergy medications, saying some might have a higher concentration of their active ingredients, while others might be contaminated. In an F.D.A. report issued Tuesday, inspectors said they had found thick dust, grime and contaminated ingredients at the plant that produces Children's Tylenol and dozens of other products recalled last week" (5/6).

USA Today adds that McNeil Consumer Healthcare plant in Fort Washington, Pa., which manufactured the recalled drugs, "has been on a stepped-up inspection schedule by federal regulators since 2008. ... On average, because of limited resources, the FDA inspects domestic drug plants only about once every two to three years, [Douglas] Stearn [an assistant director for compliance at the FDA] said" (Young, 5/6).