On Sept. 29, 1982, seventh-grader Mary Ann Kellerman complained to her parents of a sore throat. In turn, she took an Extra-Strength Tylenol to ease her symptoms. However, her condition became much worse. Adam Janus, a postal worker, similarly took Tylenol and was unable to wake up from his nap. He was taken to the emergency room in critical condition and unfortunately passed away in the hospital. Janus’ brother Stanley and his sister-in-law Theresa went to comfort other family members at his house, where they both had headaches. After taking some Extra-Strength Tylenol, they both passed away shortly after. Three others fell victim to these mysterious circumstances: Mary Reiner, Mary McFarland and Paula Prince.
This week in history, we are going to take a look into the Tylenol Murders in Chicago and how the unfortunate loss of seven people led to massive changes in the packaging and distribution of drugs.
Richard Keyworth and Philip Cappitelli were firefighters in Chicago and the first to connect the deaths, realizing that all seven took Tylenol shortly before their passing. This would eventually lead to the discovery that several bottles of Extra Strength Tylenol were laced with cyanide.
Cyanide as poison works by disrupting the electron transport chain in the mitochondria of the cell. It binds to an enzyme, preventing cells from using oxygen and hindering the production of ATP, according to this Factsheet by the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
After the connection between Tylenol and the deaths was made, a nationwide recall occurred, according to the article, “How the Tylenol murders of 1982 changed the way we consume medication” from PBS News. Tylenol would work with the media to issue mass warnings and offer replacement capsules to those who had turned in pills already purchased. Other tainted capsules were discovered in the Chicago area still on shelves; fortunately, they had not yet been purchased. After an investigation, it was determined that the products were tampered with after the pills had already left the factory and most likely occurred by removing the bottles from the shelf and returning them laced with poison to be later purchased.
To this day, the killer has not been discovered. While one man wrote a ransom note to Johnson & Johnson claiming responsibility, it was determined that he had no connection to the case.
In response to the situation, Johnson & Johnson developed “tamper-proof” packaging, adding foil to seal the bottles and changing the capsules from gelatin to something much harder to tamper with.
It worked, using these measures Johnson & Johnson was able to regain the trust of the public within a year, and “tamper-proof” packaging would become the industry standard for all manufacturers of such products.
While these products are now safer for consumers today, it’s unfortunate that those deaths had to occur for these measures to be put in place. I truly hope that someone will one day come clean about the deaths to provide closure to a sad chapter of history.