Bayer Triggers Scare With White Powder Sent Through Mail

Bayer sent 33,561 packets of white powder through the U.S. Postal Service in a promotion for aspirin, triggering a federal alert to local emergency services. According to the Boston Herald:

"Police departments are going to be inundated with calls about this. The anthrax scare is still fresh in people's minds," said Lawrence Police Chief John J. Romero. "After 9/11 it's a whole different ballgame, and I think the company should have probably realized it."

Authorities said the product was safe, and Bayer pointed out that the product came in a printed envelope with FDA information and coupons. A total of 178,000 envelopes will eventually be mailed.

The promotion ends May 29.

• Previous items on Bayer:
• Probe: Bayer Destroyed Evidence After Fatal Explosion; Tried to Dampen Media Coverage
• Bayer's Silence on Fatal Factory Explosion Gets National Attention
• Bayer's Lawyers Nix Public Hearing on Explosion at WV Plant
• Why the Bayer-Yaz Settlement Will Not Change Drug Advertising Forever
• Bayer's Advertising for Contraceptive Yaz Was "Misleading"
• Bayer Funding of Beekeepers' Association Draws Controversy
• Bayer to Pay $796,500 in EPA Fines at Plant That Exploded
• FDA sends Bayer a warning letter for unsubstantiated claims over Drontal for dogs.
• Trasylol Deaths Trigger Lawsuits
• Ethics Problems Are Business as Usual at Bayer
• The FDA slams Bayer with two warning letters for allegedly selling unapproved aspirin products.
• FTC fines Bayer $3.2 million for falsely claiming vitamins cause weight loss and for violating prior order not to make false claims.
• Bayer forced to discontinue advertising for All-Day Energy multivitamin which doesn't last all day.
• Bayer cited by NAD for not telling the truth when it said Aleve was the No. 1 medicine among orthopedic surgeons
• Bayer makes unsubstantiated claims about rivals to its Ascencia diabetes blood glucose monitor