Total Recall? Not Quite, it Seems

US healthcare producer Johnson & Johnson (J&J), known for its popular brands such as Tylenol, has become a hot topic recently in China.

However, it was not because of a new product or any positive news, but a media report about its double standards over product recalls.

The Beijing-based Health Times newspaper reported on June 9 that the company has launched at least 51 global recalls of products since  April 2005, ranging from mouthwash to blood glucose monitors, but 48 of the products were not recalled from the Chinese mainland market.

The report came after an announcement from J&J on April 23 that it would recall around 1.7 million bottles of Children's Tylenol it manufactured and sold in South Korea, due to a high level of acetaminophen, which may cause liver damage.

Shanghai Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals Ltd, the company's unit in the mainland, said that the products being recalled from South Korea were not sold in the mainland.

But the Health Times report disputed this, and said the same products are sold in the mainland. It also noted that the domestic market has again not been included in the recall.

Regulator promises action China's food and pharmaceutical watchdog said it held a meeting with J&J Thursday, following the company's recall in South Korea.

There may be defects in the company's quality management system, given its frequent recalls of drugs and health devices, the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) said in a statement on its website Thursday.

It urged J&J to improve its management to ensure products' quality, but the statement did not mention anything about the double standards.

The CFDA also vowed to strengthen its supervision to ensure timely recalls and pledged to take severe measures if firms are found to be responsible for late or secret product recalls, such as stopping their production or sales in the mainland.

Drug manufacturers must recall products, report to drug supervisors and publicly disclose details of a recall whenever quality defects or problems are discovered, the watchdog said, noting that "drug producers must launch simultaneous recalls in the mainland whenever they issue global recalls."

It was the first time that the CFDA has held talks with a multinational company over quality problems, indicating that China's watchdog is increasing its attention to drug safety, which will benefit Chinese consumers, Liu Baocheng, director of the Center for International Business Ethics at the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times.

J&J issues rebuttal.

J&J, meanwhile, said that it adheres to the same quality standards and utilizes the same product recall standards in China as it does in all other countries or regions, in a statement posted on its website Thursday following its meeting with the CFDA.

Its mainland subsidiaries have reported all product recalls conducted in the mainland in accordance with the CFDA's rules, the statement said.

J&J said the reasons why some recalls have happened elsewhere in the world but not in the mainland are because the recalled products were not registered or sold in the mainland at the time of the recall; or the products sold in mainland were produced by different units of the company from the ones that made the recalled products; or the particular recalled product lots were not sold in the mainland.

However, China Times cited industry insiders as saying Saturday that the quality standards of J&J in the mainland are lower than in other markets.

Why no recall?

J&J recalled more than 2 million OneTouch blood glucose meters in March worldwide, following two previous recalls of the product in April 2005 and September 2005. Four models of the meters are currently sold domestically, and none of the three recalls included the mainland, the Health Times report said.

Even when J&J's domestic unit stopped sales of the Velcade injection in December 2011 after an order from the CFDA, the product had already been recalled in the US, UK and Japan a year before, according to the report.

The company was criticized in November 2011 by nonprofit US organization Campaign for Safe Cosmetics for selling baby shampoo that contained carcinogenic ingredients in Australia, Canada, China, Indonesia and the US while selling carcinogen-free products in other markets such as the UK and Japan.

Continuous recalls have brought adverse affects to J&J's business and profits. In 2010, when J&J initiated 20 global recalls, the company saw a slight fall of 0.5 percent in its annual operating revenue to $61.6 billion, the first drop since it went public in 1944.

J&J said the recalls of branded medicines such as Tylenol caused a drop in sales in the third quarter of 2010 to $1.3 billion, down from $1.7 billion in the same period the year before. The New York Times reported that the company suffered a loss of as much as $600 million due to recalls in 2010.

A survey by domestic financial information provider eastmoney.com on June 9 found that 91.4 percent of 4,652 respondents said they would no longer buy any J&J products.

In explaining why they wouldn't buy them, 34.1 percent said the reason was the continuous quality problems in recent years, while 50.7 percent said the reason was the company's different attitude toward the mainland market for recalls.

Multinational companies should not have double standards toward consumers in different markets, especially China, which has huge market potential for J&J and other firms, Liu said.

"J&J's consumers are mostly well-informed, so the company should collect as much information as possible related to media reports and strengthen communication with both the government and the public to restore confidence," Liu said.

Light punishment for illegal practices is one reason behind some multinational companies' double standards, Wang Yong, secretary general of Brand China Industry Union, was quoted by China Times as saying Saturday.

For example, a Chongqing outlet of US retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc was fined 2.69 million yuan ($439,277) in 2011 for selling ordinary pork that was labeled as organic pork. The figure was roughly equivalent to three days of revenue for the outlet.

All markets are gradually raising their standards for food and drugs, so producers need to attach greater importance to their quality management systems, said Yu Mingde, president of the Chinese Pharmaceutical Enterprises Association.

What we have here appears to another of many instances where the standards for the US are lower than the standards of other countries. 

It appears that it is ok for US sold products to contain carcinogens and genetically modified ingredients, while the same products produced for other countries do not contain these things.

Are other countries standards to high or are American companies to greedy? I have my opinion, what's yours?

Globaltimes.cn

How to Shop for a Safe Car

Car crashes claimed more than 34,000 lives in 2012 according to estimates from the National Highway Transportation Administration (NHTSA), an increase of 5.3 percent over 2011. While the best way to minimize the effects of motor vehicle accidents is to prevent them from happening in the first place, the second best way is to drive safer cars.

Every new car must meet certain federal safety standards, but that doesn’t mean that all cars are created equal. Many automakers offer safety features beyond the required federal limits, so it’s important to consider this when purchasing a new or used vehicle. Auto safety features are constantly being refined and updated, so newer model vehicles are generally safer than older models.

As of the 1999 model year, the federal government required automakers to install driver and passenger airbags for frontal protection in all cars, light trucks, and vans. Some automakers also install side airbags, which are designed to protect your chest but may also keep your head from hitting interior or intruding structures.

Airbags used in conjunction with lap/shoulder belts have been shown to reduce the risk of fatal injury by 50 percent. However, in some circumstances, inflating airbags can cause injuries and even death. The greatest risk of injury is if you are very close to an airbag when it starts to inflate. Choose a car that allows you to reach the gas and brake pedals comfortably, while keeping a distance of at least twelve inches from the steering column. Also, never place a rear-facing car seat or a child under 12 years of age in a seat equipped with an airbag.

Head restraints are required in front seats of all new passenger cars to prevent neck injury during a rear end crash. Head restraints vary widely – some are fixed, while others are adjustable. They also vary in height and how far they are set back from the head. Look for cars that have a restraint that fits directly behind and close to the back of your head. If the restraints are adjustable, make sure they can be locked into place to prevent them being pushed down in a crash.

Other safety features many car manufacturers now employ are anti-lock brakes and daytime running lights. Unlike conventional brakes, anti-lock braking systems pump the brakes automatically many times a second to prevent lockup and allow you to keep control of the car. If you were trained to brake gently on slippery roads or pump your brakes to avoid a skid, you will need to unlearn these habits with anti-lock brakes, and use a hard continuous pressure to come to a safe stop.

Daytime running lights are a crash avoidance feature new to vehicles sold in America, but they’ve been used for years in Canada and Scandinavia. Daytime running lights are activated by the ignition switch and help prevent crashes by making vehicles more conspicuous.

Offered on a handful of 1995 domestic and foreign model passenger cars, pickups, and sport utility vehicles, daytime running lights are now commonplace. They are standard on all GM, Lexus, Saab, Suzuki, Volkswagen, and Volvo models, as well as some Toyota models.

Other important factors to consider when shopping for a safe car are the vehicle’s structural design and the vehicle’s size and weight. A good structural design has a strong passenger compartment, as well as front and rear ends designed to buckle and bend in a collision to absorb the force of the crash.

Larger and heavier cars sustain a crash better than lighter and smaller ones. In fact, small cars have twice as many occupant deaths each year as large cars. Small utility vehicles and pickups are prone to rolling over, so they require extra care when driving on slippery roads and when making turns. “High performance” cars typically have higher-than-average death rates because the drivers are tempted to use excessive speed. Combining a young driver and a high-performance car can be particularly dangerous.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety regularly perform crash tests to determine an automobile’s safety. For more information, or to see how certain vehicles performed in the tests, visit their website here.


The Insurance Information Network of California (IINC) is a nonprofit, non-lobbying communications association representing the property/casualty insurance industry. For more information, visit their website.

Insurance Information Network of California (IINC)
500 South Grand Avenue, Suite 1600
Los Angeles, CA 90071

Gayle Anderson KTLA 5 News, Los Angeles.

This Week's Recalls Spotlight Ford Motor Company

Fuel leaks on Ford Motor Company vehicles top this weeks recall news for the blog.

     Ford Motor Company is recalling 465,000 of its current model year cars due to a fuel leak that poses a fire risk.
The company said the models include 2013; Ford Explorer, Taurus, Flex, Fusion, Interceptor Utility and Interceptor Sedan, as well as the Lincoln MKS, MKT and MKZ.

     Ford said it is not aware of any incidents of fire due to the fuel leak, or of any injuries caused by the defect. Ford said it had received 600 complaints about the fuel leak from customers as of March 31.

     Last July, Ford recalled 11,500 of its 2013 Escape SUVs because a defect in the fuel line that could cause a fire. At the time Ford took the unusual step of advising drivers not to even drive the vehicles until they were repaired. There was no such warning with the most recent recall.

Ford also announced two smaller recalls.

      It has recalled 500 2013 Lincoln MKZ vehicles because the insulation on the engine block heater can crack at extremely low temperatures.

     Additionally, Ford said that 25 2013 Fusions are at risk of impaired steering or the loss of steering control due the lack of an internal retaining clip.