Idaho Claims Portion of $33M Settlement with Johnson & Johnson

BOISE, Idaho – A $33 million multi-state settlement with Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. and Johnson & Johnson has been reached, with Idaho claiming just more than $430,000 of the settlement.

The settlement concerned the way the companies represented certain over-the-counter drugs between 2009 and 2011, according state Attorney General Lawrence Wasden.

“It’s important that companies like these play by the rules, especially when we trust our health to their products,” Wasden said in a prepared statement. “This settlement helps hold the companies in question accountable for their actions.”

According to Wasden’s office:

The settlement resolves allegations against McNeil-PPC, Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson. The company was accused of unlawfully promoting drugs as complying with federally-mandated current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP), despite FDA findings that some McNeil manufacturing facilities did not comply with cGMPs between 2009 and 2011. The alleged quality control lapses resulted in drug recalls for McNeil brands such as Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl and Sudafed.

The complaint filed today alleges that McNeil violated Idaho’s consumer protection laws by (1) misrepresenting the cGMP compliance and the quality of its over-the-counter drugs, and (2) representing to consumers that these drugs had sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits, quantities, or qualities they did not actually have.

The settlement, according to Wasden's office, has been submitted to the Fourth Judicial District Court in Ada County for approval.