The Poisoned Painkiller

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 4 October 2016

⏱️ 9 minutes

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Summary

In October 1982 seven people in the US died after taking, Tylenol, a painkiller which had been deliberately contaminated with cyanide. Claire Bowes has been speaking to David E Collins, the drug company executive who dealt with the aftermath of the tragedy.

(Photo: Mrs. Helen Tarasiewicz, mother of Tylenol cyanide victim Theresa Tarasiewicz Janus, weeps over the casket containing her daughter"s body during graveside services at Maryhill Cemetery in Chicago Tuesday, 6 Oct 1982. Theresa, her husband Stanley Janus and Stanley"s brother Adam Janus all poisoned by cyanide from the same Tylenol bottle. Credit: Charles Knoblock/AP Photo)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Witness Podcast
0:02.0	from the BBC World Service with me Claire Bowes.
0:05.0	Today we're going back to October 1982
0:09.0	when seven people died after taking Tylenol, the number one over-the-counter painkiller in the United States.
0:17.0	The capsules had been contaminated with cyanide.
0:21.0	The first victim was a 12-year- old girl who fell ill at her home.
0:25.2	The next victims were two brothers. They died in a suburban hospital within hours of each other.
0:30.6	All three had taken the extra strength Tylenol all had traces of cyanide in their bloodstream.
0:36.0	Sionide, a fast-acting and deadly poison which had somehow been introduced into America's favorite painkiller Tylenol.
0:45.7	The first victim, Mary Kellerman, had been suffering with a cold when her mother gave her the
0:50.8	pill.
0:51.8	Within 24 hours, five more people had died. All of the
0:56.6	victims lived in the Chicago area. The coincidence of it being my hometown
1:02.2	has never never left me. I was born in Chicago I lived in
1:08.0	Chicago till I was 21 that's never left, that it was Chicago.
1:13.0	David E Collins worked for the drug manufacturer McNeil Consumer Products.
1:18.0	It was a subsidiary of the massive pharmaceutical company, Johnson and Johnson. A month earlier
1:24.3	he'd been given the promotion of his life. He was now in charge of Tylenol. Tylenol was
1:30.2	the most popular over-the-counter analgesic in the United States.
1:35.0	At the time of the poisoning, we had expanded the product offerings available and notably
1:42.0	we had been able to put
1:43.8	Tylenol into a capsule form. The product is placed inside the gelatin shell
	...

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