Johnson has not recalled blood glucose meter in China

Just a month after Johnson & Johnson recalled some of its model LP Desiphyseal Sleeve, which was produced by its subsidiary DePuy, the pharmaceutical giant with more than one hundred years of history has "staged" product recalls.

Johnson & Johnson announced on the 25th this month that it will recall and replace more than 2 million OneTouch Verio blood glucose monitors globally because these devices do not warn when diabetics' blood glucose levels are at a dangerously high level. Instead it may shut down automatically.

Jiang Ke, head of media for Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Media, yesterday (March 26) responded to an interview with the reporter of the “Daily Economic News”. “At the moment, we don’t have products that are actively recalled in China, so the initiative to recall does not involve China.”

A reporter not involved in the Chinese market learned that the recalled instrument was produced by LifeScan, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. The reason for the recall is that when the patient's blood glucose reaches a dangerous level, the instrument will automatically shut down, thereby delaying the appropriate treatment time.

Although the chance of reaching or exceeding a hyperglycemic state of 1024 mg per deciliter is negligible, once a blood glucose level of more than 1024 mg per deciliter is present, it represents a serious health problem and requires immediate medical attention.

Johnson & Johnson said that the recall affected about 90,000 OneTouch VerioIQ blood glucose meters currently on the US market, and about 1.2 million units of the same model in other countries and regions. In addition, the company will also recall approximately 670,000 OneTouch VerioPro blood glucose meters in Europe and will recall 4,900 hospital OneTouch VerioPro+ blood glucose meters in the Middle East, Europe and Asia Pacific. However, the OneTouch Ultra blood glucose meter manufactured by LifeScan is not included in the recall.

LifeScan said it has notified the FDA and other health authorities, as well as registered users and health care professionals, about this voluntary recall. In addition, the company will provide patients with an alternative instrument for free, and said that before the alternative instrument arrives, patients can continue to use the OneTouch VerioIQ model of blood glucose meter.

"Daily Economic News" reporter consulted the official website of Johnson & Johnson (China) Blood Glucose Meter and found that its main blood glucose meter products are the OneTouch Ultra model and the Select Simple model, which are not included in the recall scope.

For further details, the reporter called the Johnson & Johnson (China) Blood Glucose Meter Hotline as a patient. Customer service staff told reporters that Johnson & Johnson's recall of blood glucose meter products does not involve China, and customers can buy with confidence.

Lu Ping, an experienced medical person in an interview with the reporter of “Daily Economic News”, said that in the Chinese blood glucose meter market, it is almost divided between Johnson & Johnson, Roche and Bayer, and Johnson & Johnson’s blood glucose meter market share accounts for almost 30% to 40%.

Trapped in the quagmire, Johnson has a long history of "product recall." As early as 2005, the FDA issued a first-level recall notice to Johnson & Johnson and the stable blood glucose meter. After Johnson & Johnson was forced to recall the two blood glucose meters for the global market.

Since then, Johnson & Johnson has frequently been exposed to product quality problems and reached a "recall peak" in 2010. During the year, Johnson & Johnson involved in the recall of products up to 15 times. The products include Tylenol, Semtech, contact lenses, and heart stents.

Lu Ping told reporters that it is not a bad thing for the company to take the initiative to recall relevant products, because a good recall mechanism is better than letting others do nothing, but always recalling related products should cause vigilance, such as whether there are quality management problems. "Johnson involves a lot of things, including OTC, prescription drugs, medical devices, and consumer products. It involves a very wide range of issues and is very different in differentiation, so it may be more difficult to manage than a single category company."

Earlier, some analysts stated that because of the rapid expansion of the world during the 1980s and 1990s, Johnson & Johnson's management capabilities were unable to keep pace with development, leading to large loopholes in its quality control.

According to Shi Lichen, a pharmaceutical partner of Peking University Management Consulting Group, Johnson & Johnson's problematic products may be found in foundry products. At present, the phenomenon of product manufacturing in pharmaceutical companies is relatively common, but it is actually difficult to determine which products are produced in their own production lines. Which products come from the foundry again.

Shi Lichen said that because of its wide product line, the unified control and management of the quality of foundries has always been a difficult problem for Johnson.

On the one hand, Johnson & Johnson is frequently confronted with product quality and safety issues. On the one hand, the company continues to make big acquisitions and integrate business structures. In June of last year, Johnson & Johnson swallowed Synthes, a Swiss medical device service company, with a huge sum of US$21.3 billion. Before that, it also incorporated Guangzhou Shuangxiu Biotechnology Co., Ltd., which is in the medical industry in China. First acquisition.