ABOUT THIS EPISODE
(Content note: this episode discusses a historical event involving the death of a child and other family members.)
A 12-year-old girl took one Tylenol capsule for a sore throat. She was dead within hours, and six more people would die the same way that week.
On September 29, 1982, cyanide-laced Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules killed seven people across the Chicago area, including Mary Kellerman and three members of the Janus family, who unknowingly took pills from the same tainted bottle while grieving an earlier death in the family. Johnson & Johnson recalled 31 million bottles nationwide at a cost of nearly $100 million, far beyond what any law required, and the tragedy led directly to the Federal Anti-Tampering Act and the tamper-evident packaging standards still found on nearly every bottle sold today. The case remains formally unsolved.
This is bsnsHistory, the daily podcast about the moments when business quietly reshaped the world.
Written and hosted by Ron Trucks. Research and editing by Rodney Russ. Sound design by Angela Cahoy. Music by Cody Martin and Soundstripe.
For more daily business stories, visit www.bsnsDAILYpodcasts.com
