PAIN KILLERS
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
SEPTEMBER 29TH
PAIN KILLERS
On this day in history, September 29th, 1982, 43 years ago today three people in Chicago, Illinois met their demise. What did these three unfortunate souls have in common? All three of them had ingested extra strength Tylenol. In total seven people lost their lives in the Chicago area in what would come to be known as the Tylenol Murders.
Way back in the old days over the counter medications were not tamper proof. Anybody could go to the store, open the lid, and find the medication without having to break a seal. In the early 80’s somebody had poisoned Tylenol capsules with cyanide. They had then opened some Tylenol bottles, inserted the poisoned pills into the bottles, closed the lid, and put the poisoned Tylenol back on the store shelf. And then they waited. Nobody had a clue that any sinister deed had been done.
After 7 people had lost their lives, one man named James Lewis confessed that he had performed these evil deeds. He demanded 1 million dollars before he would stop the killings. After investigation the authorities decided that he couldn’t have committed these crimes and threw him in jail for extortion.
Johnson and Johnson recalled 31 million bottles of Tylenol after news of the Tylenol murders. They lost about 100 million dollars in sales. They later destroyed all of the pills that had any
potential to being compromised. Soon new laws were passed and companies began to make tamper proof containers for their over the counter medications.
To this day the Tylenol Murders remain unsolved. Nobody has been punished for committing their heinous crimes; so be careful what pills you consume! They might kill more than just your pain.
Rend Petersen
