Jury awarded $5 million in Tylenol Lawsuit

A Philadelphia judge ruled in favor of the plaintiff and awarded $5 million to the family of 1-year-old child, who died due to liver failure from an overdose of Infants’ Tylenol. He concluded that the pharmaceutical company breached the duty of good faith and held it responsible for the death of the child. This ruling, which came in 2007, played a morale booster for many Tylenol lawsuits related to liver failure as its side effects.

This product liability lawsuit was filed against McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson. McNeil Consumer Healthcare is the manufacturer of Tylenol. It also produces Children’s Tylenol and Infant’s Tylenol. The lawsuit alleged that Infants’ Tylenol manufactured by the McNeil was defective. The lawsuit claimed that due to defective medicine the child developed acetaminophen toxicity, which resulted in his death. Acetaminophen is the main active ingredient of Tylenol. The child was administered with the drug for around three days. He died of acetaminophen toxicity.

The defendant argued against the jury’s verdict, and said that their product was not defective or dangerous. They argued that the child died due to viral infection, not acetaminophen (Tylenol) toxicity. They added that the child was given another medicine containing acetaminophen along with Tylenol, which resulted in child’s death.

The child had a common cold. His parents administered with Concentrated Tylenol Infants’ Drops. It is an over-the-counter drug for cold and pain manufactured by McNeil Consumer Healthcare. They also had children’s Tylenol but they used Infant’s Tylenol, as the child was very small. They were not aware that Infants’ Tylenol is actually three times stronger tha
Children’s Tylenol.

The decedent was given the Infants’ Tylenol over a three-day period. When his symptoms worsened and he became lethargic, the boy was taken to his family physician who instructed that he be taken to the hospital. The child was taken to Children’s Hospital and pronounced dead about one-half hour after he was admitted through the emergency department.

The Philadelphia Medical Examiner and pediatric pathologist both testified that the reason of child’s death was liver failure. They concluded liver damage was caused by acetaminophen toxicity. His autopsy held Tylenol responsible for liver damage. The lawsuit stated that there was no sufficient warning regarding risk of liver damage with use of Infants’ Tylenol. They held the pharmaceutical company responsible for not providing adequate information about health risks associated with the drug.

The plaintiff demanded for $2.4 million for loss of earnings. The jury concluded that the instructions or warnings on the package and label for Infants’ Tylenol were not sufficient and held the company liable for the death of the child. The jury awarded $5 million in damages to the family, which was represented by lawyers not affiliated with this website. (Powers Taylor LLP had no involvement in this case.)

Tylenol is an analgesic drug and is used for treatment of pain and fever. It acts as a pain reliever. It is used for treatment of different types of pain such as muscle pain, back pain, toothache, headache and pain due to arthritis. It is also used to treat cold and fever. It contains acetaminophen as the main ingredient.

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