Why Johnson & Johnson doesn't belong in your portfolio.

 

This post is kind of a reply to Tony Wang's post of May 16th regarding the value of keeping some Johnson & Johnson stock in your portfolio.

 

Below is an excerpt of a CNNMoney.com article which details some of the conditions at Johnson & Johnson's Tylenol plant located in Fort Washington, PA.: (My bold)

 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The quality and safety violations that led to the shutdown of a Tylenol plant were extremely serious, and could lead to tough action by regulators on drugmaker Johnson & Johnson.

 

"It's absolutely shocking," said David Lebo, a professor of pharmaceutical manufacturing at Temple University in Philadelphia, referring to the Food and Drug Administration's May 6 inspection report on the facility in Fort Washington, Penn., operated by Johnson & Johnson's McNeil division.

 

"This inspection report is pretty close to being the worst I've seen. It suggests that basically the FDA found an issue with almost every system at the plant," said Lebo, who had previously worked for Johnson & Johnson's pharmaceutical sourcing group in 2002. Lebo said he left that job after nine months because the work required too much travel.

 

On May 1, McNeil recalled some 50 children's versions of non-prescription drugs, including Tylenol, Motrin and Benadryl. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, Fortune 500) has suspended production at the plant.

 

The FDA report listed 20 violations, which include 46 consumer complaints on the recalled products. Johnson & Johnson has not revealed details of those complaints. ..........

 

The most damning, according to Lebo, was the charge that the plant "does not maintain adequate laboratory facilities for the testing and approval (or rejection) of components of drug products." (Stop and think about that one for a moment y'all)

 

and

 

The FDA also said that lack of proper controls in the manufacturing process led to some batches of infant's Tylenol being "superpotent," or having too much of some ingredients.

Also, the report noted that employees at the plant were not trained in current good manufacturing practices. The FDA inspectors further detailed dusty and filthy conditions at the plant, including "incubators with a large amount of visible gray and brown dust/debris, large hole in the ceiling and thick dust covering the grill inside a filtered cabinet."

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The CEO of Johnson & Johnson can spew all the BS he wants, but the facts are clear. J & J simply cares more about profit than the safety of children. Period.

 

Here you have a company that makes a pain killer for use by infants and the plant that makes it "does not maintain adequate laboratory facilities for the testing and approval of components of drug products." So basically, whatever comes from their vendors is ASSUMED to be what they ordered, is not tested, and is put into a finished product intended for use by INFANTS.

 

Of course, why spend money on plant maintenance or lab equipment that will tell us exactly what we are putting into the products we make, when that cash can be put to better use in the form of executive bonuses.

 

How anyone who has even a remote shred of conscience can recommend owning the stock of a company such as this is beyond me. Although, I guess if your entire life revolves around the acquisition of money to the exclusion of all else then........well.......that's fine. (Not!)

 

Greed first, public safety last. It's the American way.