In 2010, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform discovered that Johnson & Johnson had undertaken a secret or "phantom" recall of its pain reliever, Motrin. Johnson & Johnson had maintained that it carried out the recall with the permission of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, this did not prevent the State of Oregon bringing suit against the company for violating state trade law. Students are asked to examine the situation in the case study and consider whether the actions of Johnson & Johnson can be seen as an ethical business decision.
Originally Published in: Johnson, C. E. (2011). The Phantom Recall. In Organizational ethics: A practical approach (2nd ed., pp. 42-43). Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, Inc. ISBN: 9781412987967.