Motrin controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2017
Multistate adulterated-OTC settlement
A multistate government settlement alleged that McNeil sold adulterated versions of several over-the-counter medicines and failed to take adequate recall action. Motrin was among the named products. The matter concerned manufacturing, quality, and compliance practices rather than a finding that all Motrin products or ibuprofen as an ingredient were unsafe.
2010
Children’s Motrin manufacturing and recall controversy
Children’s Motrin was included in a broad McNeil recall involving pediatric and infant medicines manufactured at the Fort Washington facility. Investigations raised concerns about manufacturing controls and quality systems. The event was part of a larger Johnson & Johnson consumer-health crisis rather than evidence that ibuprofen itself was intrinsically defective.
2008
Motrin IB phantom recall
McNeil arranged for third-party contractors to buy certain adult Motrin IB products from retailers after a product-quality concern. The action was not initially communicated to the public as a standard recall, leading congressional investigators to describe it as a phantom or stealth recall and to criticize the company’s transparency and regulatory communications.