Once again, the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform is asking Johnson & Johnson ceo Bill Weldon to testify about the recent recall of more than 135 million bottles of various pediatric over-the-counter medicines, including Tylenol and Motrin, after a series of ongoing quality-control problems plagued different plants run by J&J’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit. [UPDATE: As of 6 pm EST, the initial June 30 hearing date has been postponed due to a scheduling conflict. A new date has not been set, taking some heat off Weldon for now].

In a letter today, committee chair Ed Towns, a New York Democrat, wrote the usual boilerplate invitation to Weldon, who backed out of a May 27 hearing because he was said to be recuperating from recent back surgery. In his stead, Colleen Goggins, who heads J&J’s worldwide consumer group, attempted to explain a series of gaffes and confusing moves that prompted Towns to famously describe one J&J effort as a “phantom recall.” He was referring to a J&J contractor that instructed its employees to purchase the meds from stores but not to mention the word recall (here is the contractor’s memo).

Since then, the committee and J&J have been locked in a battle over the meaning of various internal J&J emails (see this) that discussed what the healthcare giant initially described as a product ‘retrieval,’ until the FDA told the company otherwise. The committee also accused J&J of failing to submit all of the requested documentation last month and implied a subpoena may be issued. We are awaiting word on whether Mr. Weldon will go to Washington, send another lieutenant or write another blog post. We will update you accordingly.