#37: The Chicago Tylenol Murders

When purchasing goods and services from trusted brands, you expect good results. Whether it be a company related to food, medication, or even a something related to supplying certain services, people expect a certain standard of product. Most people tend to trust companies without a second thought, so when tragedy struck in 1982 with a few contaminated Tylenol bottles, people began panicking. On September 29, 1972, 7 people in Chicago took contaminated Tylenol pills and soon after collapsed and died.

This occurrence led to an investigation that concluded that several Tylenol bottles across the United States had been contaminated with cyanide, a lethal poison that, when taken in large amounts, causes seizures, and cardiac arrest, which ultimately leads to death. Tylenol’s parent company, Johnson & Johnson, recalled over 31 million bottles of Tylenol and issued warnings to the public not to purchase the product. After these deaths, there were several copycat attempts across the United States. This tragedy is why we have safety seals on our medicine bottles today… No suspect has ever been charged or convicted of this horrible act.