In the wake of a secret recall of defective but not dangerous medicine by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are looking to expand the Food & Drug Administration’s power to force companies to recall defective products.
In the spring of 2009, Johnson & Johnson paid contractors to buy up lots of the pain reliever Motrin it wanted to secretly pull from the market without making a public recall announcement. Company officials claim the FDA was in the know about the secret program, but the federal watchdog denies any knowledge.