PediaCare children’s medicines made at Johnson & Johnson plant recalled

4 PediaCare cold and allergy products recalled

WASHINGTON — More children’s medicines are being recalled because they were made at the same Johnson & Johnson plant where federal health authorities found poor quality standards.

Blacksmith Brands Inc. announced a recall on Friday for about 100,000 units of four PediaCare items sold nationwide. These recalled items include PediaCare Multi-Symptom Cold, PediaCare Long Acting Cough, PediaCare Decongestant and PediaCare Allergy and Cold.

McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a unit of Johnson & Johnson, made the products for Blacksmith Brands at McNeil’s Fort Washington, Pa., plant. Blacksmith Brands, of Tarrytown, N.Y., owns the PediaCare brands that were affected by the Friday recall.

Last month, J&J’s McNeil division recalled more than 40 varieties of children’s medicines after the Food and Drug Administration discovered a slew of violations at the Fort Washington plant. Last month’s recall involved children and baby formulations of Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl.

Blacksmith Brands said on Friday it was recalling the four PediaCare items because they were made at the same plant. There have been no reported incidents linked to the recalled PediaCare products, but tiny particles have been found in other products that were made at the McNeil plant, Blacksmith Brands said.

Also, ingredients used by Johnson & Johnson in some of the 40 varieties of recalled medicines were contaminated with bacteria, according to an FDA report released earlier this month. The report lists more than 20 manufacturing problems found at the McNeil plant. The FDA has not linked the recalled products to any health problems.

Blacksmith Brands said it is advising consumers to discontinue their use of the recalled PediaCare products, and it plans to produce new lots of the products at different plants.

For more information about the recalled PediaCare items, consumers can call 888-474-3099 or visit www.blacksmithbrands.com. Adverse reactions can be reported to the Food and Drug Administration at 800-332-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch/report.htm.