Louisiana will receive $586,408 of a $33 million multistate settlement Johnson & Johnson has reached to resolve allegations that a subsidiary sold nonprescription medicines that did not meet federal quality standards.
At least 42 states and the District of Columbia were part of the lawsuit, the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office says.
“My Public Protection Division works tirelessly to ensure companies that deceive Louisiana consumers are held accountable for their actions,” Attorney General Jeff Landry says in a statement issued this morning. “This resolution does just that and should serve as a reminder for those doing business in our state to follow manufacturing safety standards.”
McNeil Consumer Consumer Healthcare Division, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, was accused of promoting some popular over-the-counter drugs as complying with federal mandates even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found McNeil to be out of compliance between 2009 and 2011, according to Landry’s office.
McNeil’s alleged quality control lapses resulted in recalls of drugs like Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, St. Joseph Aspirin, Sudafed, Pepcid, Mylanta, Rolaids and Zyrtec.
