Johnson & Johnson Recalls Infants' Tylenol That's Too Hard To Use

By Scott Hensley

Published February 17, 2012 at 9:21 AM CST

More than a half-million bottles of Tylenol for babies have been recalled because of complaints about a new system for getting the dose right. The doughnut-like receptacle for the syringe seen in the neck of the bottle can get pushed down into the liquid medicine.

Johnson & Johnson keeps finding new reasons to recall products.

This time there's a problem with more than a half-million bottles of grape-flavored liquid Tylenol for infants. What's up?

Well, the "SimpleMeasure" dosing system that's supposed to make it easier to fill a syringe with the right amount of the grapey painkiller and fever-reducer is too complicated for some parents.

J&J's McNeil division said it has received a "small number of complaints" about how difficult it was to use the docking system for filling the syringe.

Or, to be fair to parents and caregivers, it could be a shortcoming in design that makes it possible to dislodge a doughnut-shaped plastic piece in the neck of the bottle so it can fall into the liquid medicine. (See the video below for how it's supposed to work.)

Either way, it's new territory for the company, which has had so many recalls in the last few years that I've lost count.

The affected product is Infants' Tylenol Oral Suspension (1-ounce bottles). The lots are: BIL0U00, BIL0V00, BIL3500, BJL2D00, BJL2E00, BJL2T00 and BJL2U00.

There's nothing wrong with medicine itself, the company said.

If you have the stuff in your medicine cabinet, you can ask for a refund here. J&J has an explanation and an apology to consumers here.