Could a Tylenol-Asthma Link Kill the Colossus of the Bathroom Cabinet?

(MoneyWatch)  A massive new study has found a significant correlation between Tylenol and asthma in children, raising the prospect that Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is staring at the death of a brand that once stood for safety in non-prescription medicine.

On its own, the study is not a Tylenol-killer. But it comes after a string of events that have been disastrous for the brand, including the recall of virtually all Children's Tylenol due to manufacturing problems and the FDA's requirement that Tylenol (also known as acetaminophen or paracetamol) carry warnings for liver toxicity when mixed with alcohol.

There are other potential reasons why kids who take Tylenol are 2.5 times more likely to have asthma. For instance, if parents give their kids Tylenol to treat symptoms of an underlying infection that causes wheezing, that would produce a false correlation between asthma and Tylenol use. However, the headline parents will remember is "Tylenol = asthma in children." And it may well be the case that Tylenol does trigger asthma in some way.

Could this mean the death of Tylenol as significant brand, or at least the relegation of this Colossus of the Bathroom Cabinet to a footnote in the history of non-prescription medicine? It's possible. The recall has created a shortage of Tylenol and consumers are switching, and learning that generic acetaminophen is cheaper and just as effective. Those consumers may never come back.

J&J today created a new quality control position for an executive who reports directly to CEO William Weldon. And McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the troubled J&J unit that makes Tylenol, is hiring at least 17 more execs devoted to quality control. (Those moves suggest my previous note describing how J&J had decimated its quality control program following a middle-management revolt, leaving top management out of touch with what was actually happening at McNeil, was on the money.)

While J&J says these moves will help it relaunch Tylenol later this year, the bad news about the drug will continue dripping like a leaking faucet. The company has received a series of subpoeanas from federal prosecutors looking into the recall. That may lead to civil penalties or unfortunate legal disclosures from J&J's internal documents.

Tylenol may never regain its ground.

Related:

• The 3 Things J&J Didn't Say in Its Tylenol Recall Statement
• Why Hasn't McNeil's President Resigned Over the Tylenol Recall? (Among Other Unsolved Mysteries at J&J)
• J&J's Other Headache: Foreign Bribery Probe Targets Shanghai Unit
• It's a Trap! Congress Wants to See J&J CEO Squirm Over Tylenol Recalls
• How J&J Allowed Its Tylenol Factory to Rage "Out of Control"