Home » Business » Manufacturing
J&J lens recall is 5 times higher
Source: Agencies |
00:51 UTC+8 December 3, 2010
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BELEAGUERED healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson confirmed that it had recalled almost 500,000 boxes of contact lenses - five times the number earlier announced.
The New Jersey-based global healthcare conglomerate said that an August recall of 100,000 boxes, mainly in Japan, was extended in late October to cover a total of 492,000 boxes.
J&J recalled its 1 Day Acuvue TruEye lenses after customers complained of stinging pain when putting them in their eyes.
The company, which claims to be striving for greater transparency in the wake of a series of image-damaging recalls, announced this expanded recall by press release only in Japan, where some 75 percent of the affected product was sold, leaving J&J investors largely in the dark.
J&J is already under criminal and congressional investigation in the United States over a series of massive recalls of such products as Children's Tylenol, Motrin and Benadryl due to quality control lapses and other problems.
The expanded recall came to light on Wednesday after details were posted on a UK healthcare regulatory agency website. Regulatory authorities in all countries with affected lots were notified of the expanded recall in late October, said Gary Esterow, a spokesman for J&J's Vistakon vision care unit, leaving it up to government agencies to notify consumers.
Some 25 nations in Europe were involved in the limited voluntary recall, including the UK, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Switzerland and Germany. Acuvue lenses were also recalled in Canada, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong, the company said. The lens was not sold on Chinese mainland and US products are not affected.
The nearly half a million recalled boxes represents less than 1 percent of the contact lenses made by J&J worldwide, the company said.
A J&J review identified higher-than-expected levels of an acid used in manufacturing the lenses that had not been fully removed during the rinsing process. The review also turned up a small percentage of contact lenses that did not meet internal manufacturing requirements, Esterow said.
The New Jersey-based global healthcare conglomerate said that an August recall of 100,000 boxes, mainly in Japan, was extended in late October to cover a total of 492,000 boxes.
J&J recalled its 1 Day Acuvue TruEye lenses after customers complained of stinging pain when putting them in their eyes.
The company, which claims to be striving for greater transparency in the wake of a series of image-damaging recalls, announced this expanded recall by press release only in Japan, where some 75 percent of the affected product was sold, leaving J&J investors largely in the dark.
J&J is already under criminal and congressional investigation in the United States over a series of massive recalls of such products as Children's Tylenol, Motrin and Benadryl due to quality control lapses and other problems.
The expanded recall came to light on Wednesday after details were posted on a UK healthcare regulatory agency website. Regulatory authorities in all countries with affected lots were notified of the expanded recall in late October, said Gary Esterow, a spokesman for J&J's Vistakon vision care unit, leaving it up to government agencies to notify consumers.
Some 25 nations in Europe were involved in the limited voluntary recall, including the UK, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Switzerland and Germany. Acuvue lenses were also recalled in Canada, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong, the company said. The lens was not sold on Chinese mainland and US products are not affected.
The nearly half a million recalled boxes represents less than 1 percent of the contact lenses made by J&J worldwide, the company said.
A J&J review identified higher-than-expected levels of an acid used in manufacturing the lenses that had not been fully removed during the rinsing process. The review also turned up a small percentage of contact lenses that did not meet internal manufacturing requirements, Esterow said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
