How the Tylenol^® Murders Forever Changed Medicine

Everyone has opened a bottle of acetaminophen or ibuprofen and punched their finger through the little foil seal – it's just a mundane part of how medicine is packaged. However, the story behind those seals is far from mundane. It's a fascinating and morbid tale of murder and mystery that rocked Chicago and the United States in 1982, forever changing how we take medicine.

The First Victim

On Sept. 28, 1982, the parents of 12-year-old Mary Kellerman of Elk Grove Village, Illinois gave her a Tylenol^® tablet to soothe a sore throat. This ordinary action had devastating consequences. Within a few hours, Mary was dead. The medication had been replaced with a cyanide tablet.

A Tragic Twist of Fate

Hours later, 27-year-old postal worker, Adam Janus of Arlington Heights, Illinois died mysteriously. It was initially thought that Janus suffered a heart attack, but the autopsy revealed cyanide poisoning – just like Kellerman. That same day Janus' brother and sister-in-law went home to comfort their family where they both began to experience massive headaches – a common response to a traumatic event. The couple both took a Tylenol from the bottle Janus had used earlier in the day. Within two days they were dead from cyanide poisoning.

Three More Dead

Three more people in the Chicago area died over the following days: 35-year-old Mary McFarland, 35-year-old Paula Prince, and 27-year-old Mary Weiner. All three took Tylenol tablets preceding their death. All three died of cyanide poisoning.

Authorities React

These strange deaths raised concern for local law enforcement. Authorities quickly connected the deaths to Tylenol consumption and sent the bottles off from each home for testing. The results? The bottles had been tampered with. The contents had been replaced with tablets containing lethal doses of potassium cyanide.

Within two days, all Tylenol products were pulled from shelves, and consumers were directed to dispose of any Tylenol products in their homes. Tylenol cooperated with authorities and issued a nationwide recall on all Tylenol products. The Tylenol murders sent the country into a panic.

The Case Remains Open

Authorities were never able to identify the perpetrator and the truth remains a mystery. A New York man named James Lewis claimed responsibility and demanded $1 million from Tylenol in exchange for an end to the killings. Authorities easily established that Lewis was not responsible for the murders, and he spent 13 years in prison on extortion charges.

Consequences

The 1982 Tylenol murders forever changed the way we buy and take medicine. Congress passed the 1983 "Tylenol Bill" in response to the murders, making it a felony to tamper with consumer products. In addition, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated its policies to require tamper-proof seals on all medication. Companies also released new versions of pills called "caplets" that were coated with slick gelatin, making them easier to swallow and much harder to tamper with.

Some copycat murders took place throughout the 1980s and 1990s, but none ever reached the scale of the original Chicago Tylenol murders. Next time you peel off or poke through the foil seal on a bottle of medicine, remember the tragic events of 1982 that increased safety for hundreds of millions of people at the cost of seven innocent lives.

References: The Chicago Tylenol Murders | How the Tylenol murders of 1982 changed the way we consume medication