J&J Overhauling Unit Amid Thousands of Recalls

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is revamping its consumer products business in an effort to resolve manufacturing issues that led to thousands of recalled bottles of cold medicine.

The company is fashioning its McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit, which sells products such as Tylenol, Benadryl, Motrin and Zyrtec, with new leadership, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Starting on April 4, the unit will become its own organization, overseen by Patrick Mutchler, who is 35-year J&J veteran with experience in its consumer business.

Others joining the team including Marc Robinson, who has overseen J&J’s global over-the-counter business, and Peter Luther, formerly the president of McNeil Consumer Healthcare.

The group has issued more than a dozen recalls since late 2009 due to manufacturing problems at the facility, with complaints ranging from a musty odor in Tylenol bottles to metal shavings in some children’s medicine bottles. Its latest recall, issued on Wednesday, involved 34,000 Tylenol bottles.

The New Brunswick, N.J.-based company, which had to shut one of its manufacturing facilities because of the issues, says the recalls cost it some $900 million in sales last year.