J&J Recalls Grape-flavored Children's Tylenol: Another Missed Opportunity for Social Media

[Great minds think alike! Be sure to read Update at end of this post.]

Here's another case where CHEAP social media -- ie, YouTube -- could have been used by a pharmaceutical company to support patients using its products, but was not.

Johnson & Johnson DID use social media -- Twitter -- to inform followers of its decision to recall of U.S., Infants’ TYLENOL® Oral Suspension, 1 oz. Grape. According to a letter sent to J&J employees' Denice Torres, who’s the President of McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, said:

"We’re recalling the product at the retail level after receiving a small number of complaints from consumers who reported difficulty using the product’s SimpleMeasure™ dosing system. SimpleMeasure™ includes a dosing syringe, which a parent or caregiver inserts into a protective cover, or “flow restrictor,” at the top of the bottle to measure the proper dose. In some cases, the flow restrictor was pushed into the bottle when inserting the dosing syringe. No adverse events associated with this issue have been reported to date and the risk of a serious adverse medical event is remote."

The letter was posted on the JNJBTW Blog (see here), to which the Twitter post mentioned above linked. J&J will offer people a refund, which is good. But are they abandoning the new dosing system, which is also a good idea? Perhaps it needs a new design, but even so, it should include instructions for use -- and not just written instructions, which many people won't understand. Video would be better.

So, I immediately thought: "Why didn't J&J post a video on YouTube that showed people how to use the dosing syringe?"

Such a video would be almost as easy and cheap for J&J to create as the post to JNJBTW. And it would be more likely to be seen by consumers because YouTube is the second -- maybe now the first -- most used search engine on the Internet! The video could also be embedded within the product web site. [Or even at the end of blog posts such as this one!]

I did a quick search of the product web site and found no information on how to use the SimpleMeasure™ dosing system and no video.

Last week I attended the ePharma Summit, which included a popular presentation titled "I wish I'd Done That! Social Media." Presenters would review competitors' social media campaigns that they liked.

What we really need is a session on "The Social Media We Should Have Done, But Didn't!." I think I will gather my contenders for this session and post them here!

Meanwhile, I hope this gives J&J an idea.

UpDate:
I just learned learned via a Twitter post from @JNJComm at 10:05 AM that there is a YouTube video on How To Use Infants' TYLENOL® SimpleMeasure™: Watch a video about how to use Infants’ TYLENOL Simple Measure > http://www.youtube.com/tylenol

Are Secret Drug Recalls Common?

When Johnson and Johnson's McNeil Pharmaceuticals discovered that Motrin tablets on drugstore shelves might be faulty, the company hired contractors to purchase all the affected Motrin they could find in stores.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Lynn Walther, who works for a Portland, Ore., inventory company, said that he was "hired by a contractor to walk into convenience stores and quietly buy specific lots of Motrin IB caplet eight-count vials. Though he said his purchases often were met with puzzled looks from store owners, Walther said he had been told not to give the stores an explanation" (see the video below and "Contractor Questions Order to Remove Motrin From Shelves").

Walther was following the instructions he'd been given. "You should simply act like a regular customer while making these purchases," the document said. "There must be no mention of this being a recall of the product. Run in, find the product, make your purchase and run out."

This "secret recall" program was authorized by Colleen A. Goggins, Worldwide Chairman, Consumer Group, Johnson & Johnson. Goggins testified before Congress that there was no effort at concealment. Since then, Goggins has fallen on the sword for J&J and tendered her resignation as of March 2011 (see here). I imagine that she is not likely to appear before Congress again for fear of facing perjury charges.

J&J defends itself by claiming it's actions were NOT secret at all -- it did the "recall" with the full knowledge of the FDA, a claim the FDA seems to deny. Listen to the ABC interview for the details.

One wonders how common it is for drug companies to engage in secret recalls like this?

Parallels Between BP and J&J

In another life or in the Bizzaro World I might be a successful blogger about the oil industry, which has many parallels with the drug industry, including:

• Both provide essential services to the public
• Both suffer dismal reputations among consumers
• Both engage in research to find new solutions and sources of income
• Both have very high profit margins and are accused of "gouging" the public
• Both are highly regulated by government agencies
• Both have huge lobbying budgets and are accused of "buying" politicians
• Regulators of both industries are accused of having "cozy" relations with the industries they regulate
• Both are globally focused
• Both do a lot of DTC advertising
• etc., etc.

Thus, if I were an oil industry blogger, I would be writing about issues similar to the ones I write about here on Pharma Marketing Blog.

For the past several weeks the parallels between the drug and oil industry have been brought to the front burner of my mind due to two unfolding stories: the Gulf oil spill caused by BP and the product recall by McNeil (a J&J company).

Of course, the effect of McNeil's product recall on public health pales in comparison with BP's failure. That's an insignificant parrell.

But the causes of both fiascos seem to have been poor decisions by management. That's the first significant parallel I noticed.

BP admitted that mistakes were made by its management just prior to the oil rig disaster and McNeil admitted it made "significant organizational changes in order to augment the quality and operations leadership on the management team and in all McNeil facilities."

McNeil's admission came during testimony yesterday before before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the U.S. House of Representatives. Testifying was Ms. Colleen A. Goggins, Worldwide Chairman, Consumer Group, Johnson & Johnson. Also see JNJBTW blog post "McNeil Consumer Healthcare’s Plans to Assess and Address Quality Issues".

The fact that both company's executives were summoned to testify before Congress is another parallel.

Ms. Googins was sent to testify in place of Bill Weldon, JNJ's CEO, who declined to attend due to medical problems (see "JNJ's CEO Weldon May Send Underling to Congress. The Aching Back Excuse").

I learned today that some BP executives also said they would not testify before Congress due to "medical conditions." According to a NY Times story "Three scheduled witnesses have changed their plans to testify, according to the Coast Guard. Robert Kaluza, a BP official on the rig on the day of the explosion, declined to testify on Thursday by invoking his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself. Another top ranking BP official, Donald Vidrine, and James Mansfield, Transocean’s assistant marine engineer on the Deepwater Horizon, both told the Coast Guard that they had medical conditions" (see story here).

The medical excuses used by both J&J and BP executives is a bizarre parallel that probably has no significance other than the fact that corporate executives at both companies have circled their wagons and refuse to be held publicly responsible.

Perhaps another parallel is that both J&J and BP initially tried to cover up the extent of the problems.  BP originally reported that only 1,000 barrels of oil were leaking per day, whereas now independent estimates place it at 12-19,000 barrels a day. McNeil also publicly admitted much less of a problem with its products early on and only when confronted by the FDA did it expand its recall. BTW, McNeil has been accused of quietly engaging in a "phantom recall" during which its agents went to stores to purchase all of the painkiller Motrin on shelves without notifying FDA. These agents were said to have told store owners to remain silent about the activity (see "J&J ‘Phantom Recall’ Shows Motrin Troubles Go Back to 2008").

FDA is now considering "additional enforcement actions against [Johnson and Johnson] for its pattern of non-compliance which may include seizure, injunction or criminal penalties," according to Joshua Sharfstein, FDA Deputy Commission. He made his remarks during yesterday's testimony (see J&J's Manufacturing Deficiencies Could Draw Criminal Action From FDA).

Federal investigators are also likely to file criminal charges against BP.

What other parallels do you see?

JNJ's CEO Weldon May Send Underling to Congress. The Aching Back Excuse

I just learned that Bill Weldon, JNJ's CEO, who was asked to testify at a May 27 hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about the McNeil manufacturing problems, may send an underling in his place. According to Ed Silverman of Pharmalot "J&J [wrote] back to say Weldon had back surgery today and so he may not be able to travel to DC next week. Instead, J&J is prepared to send Colleen Goggins, who heads the worldwide consumer group. Weldon would still be willing to 'communicate' with the committee after he recovers."

Oh, my aching back! It sure sounds like Weldon is trying to wriggle his way out of appearing before a public hearing to explain why McNeil's manufacturing facilities "may be ‘out of control’ and not following internal standard operating procedures, much less FDA regulations," according to Darrell Issa, a California Republican congressman and member of the Oversight Committee (see letter). Issa has asked committee chair Edolphus Towns to postpone the May 27 hearing.

[If I said that Weldon is "sending in a woman to do a man's job," I may be accused of being a sexist. But I know that women are often taxed with unpleasant tasks at pharma and other companies and that they are not compensated equal to men and are often treated unequal to men on the job  -- see the recent Novartis settlement, for example. I also know that 86% of the members of the Oversight committee are men who may be less inclined to subject Colleen to withering cross examination. Did this figure into JNJ's strategy? What do you think?]

From the statement received by Pharmalot, one could conclude that Weldon may never appear in person before Congress but may "communicate" in some other fashion. He sure has had a problem communicating via social media as I pointed out in my previous post (see "Despite Its Social Media Expertise, J&J Fails to Use It Effectively to Communicate to Consumers"). Now it appears he has a problem communicating in the real world!

I was asked what I would do in JNJ's shoes by Melissa Davies -- a mom and Social Media Practice Lead at Return on Focus, a company that helps companies market their brands. Melissa asked (in a comment to my previous post):

"John, could you share some thoughts on what you would advise JNJ to do as part of a more fully developed social media response strategy? Are you thinking the company should have more Tweets, engage on more sites, etc.? I'm curious what you think the ideal roadmap looks like."

My response:

"For what it's worth, I believe this situation calls for more information and conversation no matter what the channel or the road.

But since we are talking about social media, let's stick to that.

Because the CEO has been targeted, is expected to meet with Congress, and posted a message to JNJBTW, he should lead the discussion. In addition to a formal letter posted to the corporate blog, how about opening up a YouTube channel in which he and McNeil executives talk directly to their audience and provide updates. They should allow comments -- and respond to as many as necessary.

Twitter can work with this to keep people informed about what is going on and link to specific videos.

If the CEO talks to Congress, get the transcript and post it before anyone else does. Ask readers to comment on how well or not so well questions were answered by the CEO and what was missing.

Of course, there needs to be some progress if you are going to give updates. Actions speak louder than words. Social media won't solve the problems.

Right now, I feel that JNJ doesn't have a handle on what's causing the problems. At least that's what I suspect from the reports I have heard. Maybe there are complicated manufacturing issues that involve things JNJ doesn't want to be made public (eg, importation of tainted supplies from China)? Maybe this is a good opportunity to provide a virtual tour of a Good Manufacturing facility with interviews of employees.

I don't know if this is a roadmap or not, but when your company's reputation is at stake, the leaders have to be visible. You can't just say "one of our companies has let you down" and leave it at that. What are going to do about it so that it doesn't happen again? is what people really want to hear from the people who are in charge, not the PR department."

I have a call in to Marc Monseau, Director of Corporate Communications at JNJ. When and if he responds, I will provide an update.

Despite Its Social Media Expertise, J&J Fails to Use It Effectively to Communicate to Consumers

Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ's) has earned accolades from industry pundits for its social media expertise (see Dosie Awards, for example). Yet it's handling of the McNeil Consumer recall of children's medicines seems weak in general and very weak specifically with regard to the use of social media to reach out and engage consumers on the issue.

As reported in the Wall Street Journal, "Some parents say the recall has weakened J&J's reputation for quality. The recall has also prompted a congressional investigation of the company's handling of consumer complaints and the adequacy of the FDA's inspections. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has asked J&J Chief Executive William Weldon to testify at a hearing on May 27" (see "FDA Widens Probe of J&J's McNeil Unit").

The only response from JNJ via social media after issuing notices about the recall back in early May was a 253-word blog post by JNJ CEO Bill Weldon on JNJBTW (see "To All Who Use Our Products -- From Bill Weldon") and a series of Tweets from Marc Monseau, JNJ's Director of Corporate Communication, linking to that letter (see below).

Meanwhile on other blogs like Bnet, Weldon is accused of being clueless (see "Tylenol Recalls: CEO Weldon Is Either Clueless or Lying, and Neither Will Play Before Congress").

Thanks to PharmaGossip for Photoshopped image of Bill Weldon

Social media is often touted by drug industry experts as a tool to be used to "manage the conversation" or, at least, to participate in the conversation. But JNJ is not engaging or participating as much as I think it could or should. To his credit, Monseau has approved and published on JNJBTW blog several negative comments from moms, docs, and former JNJ employees, but Weldon has not responded or continued the dialogue.

NOTE: As Monseau points out in a comment to this post, he has responded to readers in relation JNJBTW posts on this topic (see "McNeil Announces Voluntary Recall"). Edwin Kuffner, MD, Vice President of Medical Affairs at McNeil Consumer Healthcare, has also responded to comments, but mostly to tell consumers to contact their doctors about problems with medications. What I was looking for, I guess, are further posts to JNJBTW keeping readers apprised of progress that J&J is making -- especially from the CEO. The last comment by Monseau on May 4 was "I apologize that we are not able to provide you with more answers at this time. As dr. Kuffner explained, we are continuing to investigate these issues and we have shared as much information with you that we can." Read into that what you want, but the news stories continue and the JNJBTW blog has been silent on these latest stories.

To recap: I feel that the issue deserves more than a single 250-word post by Weldon on a blog. It leads me to believe that Weldon's appearance before Congress will be as engaging and forthright as was Goldman Sach's and the oil industry's.

BTW, after I posted "Trouble in the House that McNeil Built: Why Drug Company Silos are Useful", I was quoted in an AdAge article:

"Deep down I do believe that J&J is keeping its stellar reputation partially due to the fact that it is siloed into many different operating units. It does seem to go out of its way to link the J&J brand to baby products and mom rather than Rx drugs, some of which have nasty side effects and even nastier marketing practices. That's why Marc Monseau always -- I mean always -- prefaces his public statements saying that J&J is not a pharmaceutical company, it's a health company. Imagine a bizarro Oz where the wizard behind the curtain is actually an evil wizard who appears to be doing good things. Of course, I'm not saying that J&J is evil; it's just another drug company" (see "What's Ailing J&J -- and Why Isn't Its Rep Hurting?").

Trouble in the House that McNeil Built: Why Drug Company Silos are Useful

Marc Monseau, head of corporate communications at Johnson & Johnson (J&J or JNJ) and contributor to the JNJBTW Blog, often says that JNJ is not a pharmaceutical company. He likes to think of it as a healthcare company.

But I think of JNJ as a pharmaceutical holding company, by which I mean it holds several separate pharmaceutical companies under its corporate umbrella. Each one a "silo" of sorts.

The advantage of this type of organization is that the Johnson & Johnson name and brand remain untarnished among consumers even when one or more of its "units" breaks the law or fails to protect consumers from tainted products.

One such unit or division is McNeil. There's Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical LLC and Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, which markets and sells Rx products such as Topamax. And there's McNeil Consumer Healthcare, which markets and sells over-the-counter products such as children's Tylenol, Motrin, etc.

Both of these J&J/McNeil "units" are in the news these days. Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical and Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals were fined a total of $81.5 million for misbranding and illegally marketing Topamax (see "J&J to Pay $81 Million, End Federal Cases on Topamax"). Topamax is approved only for treating epilepsy, but BNet author Jim Edwards, points out that the J&J companies "promoted Topamax for such a wild range of conditions [eg, weight loss], based on such thin evidence, that it was impossible not to notice that many of them were off-label" (see here).

Meanwhile, McNeil Consumer Healthcare has been cited AGAIN for bad manufacturing processes. I wrote about this in the past -- see "Social Media Vs. Social Responsibility: J&J Fails Crisis Management 101." McNeil apologized back in January, 2010 and is now apologizing again AFTER FDA issued a report (here and here).

Although news stories mention the J&J name in headlines, when all is said and done, the J&J brand image among consumers will remain unsullied for the most part, IMHO. Which suggests that "silos" works! Other drug companies may not have the same corporate structure as does J&J, but they are just as "siloed" -- by brand! So, consumers remember Vioxx, but often forget that it was marketed by Merck, which lately gets a lot of kudos for Gardasil.

I'm not sure what the point of this is other than that drug company silos can be a useful strategy. Of course, siloing also can lead to failures to communicate (see "Is Your Brand a Digital Genius or a Feeble-Minded Idiot?").