The Congressional committee investigating the J&J recall scandal is now looking at two contractors that were hired by the healthcare giant to retrieve defective Motrin tablets from stores in what is being called a “phantom recall.” The move comes after a hearing last week in which it was learned employees were instructed not to discuss a possible recall (see this memo).

In a letter to the contractors, the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform is seeking info about their relationships with Johnson & Johnson and details of their activities. The letters allege the contractors - WIS and Carolina Supply Chain Services ( see the letter here and here) - secretly purchased Motrin bottles in order to avoid issuing a formal recall, but J&J announced a recall after the FDA discovered the “covert activity.” Since then, a Fort Washington, Pa., plant run by J&J’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit has been closed to rectify quality-control problems found by the FDA (see the FDA report). J&J recalled dozens of products, including Children’s Tylenol.

“Rather than doing the right thing and announcing a recall, we have learned that the drug company hired contractors to basically sneak into stores to purchase the products as if they were legitimate customers,” committee chair Ed Towns says in a statement. “We need to better understand Johnson & Johnson’s relationship with the contractor and get to the bottom of the services the contractor was asked to provide. It wasn’t until this caper was foiled by the FDA that McNeil did what it should have done in the first place and recalled the affected medication. The company’s motivation was apparently to save itself the embarrassment and potential financial loss associated with a recall.”

So far, the committee has received more than 20,000 documents from J&J and McNeil, and committee investigators have interviewed top McNeil exec, including the president of McNeil, as well as top FDA officials, according to a source close to the investigation. The committee has also received more than 1,000 documents from the FDA. Meanwhile, on its web site, WIS brags…

that “when a product recall occurs, manufacturers need a qualified partner with a national workforce that can rapidly visit many sites over a short period of time. WIS can assist in quickly removing recalled items from each site, package product for shipment and documenting returns. WIS International has executed product recalls projects ranging from a few hundred sites to thousands of locations. Count on WIS International when a rapid response is required!”

WIS clients listed include Home Depot; Walmart; Loblaws; Dollar General Stores; Safeway; Bath & Body Works; JC Penney; Lowes Hardware; Rite Aid; Walgreens and Office Depot. Carolina Supply Chain Services is now owned by Inmar, which is owned by New Mountain Capital (see this), a private equity firm. UPDATE: Inmar’s marketing vp, Sharon Joyner-Payne, writes us to say that: “We will review the committee’s request and respond and comply with all questions.”
Vice-President Marketing

Sharon Joyner-Payne
Vice-President Marketing