Doc headaches for Johnson & Johnson: Confusing instructions force recall

["Chris Christner" <cchris -at- toptechwriter -dot- us>]

Hi all,

I'm reposting this message because the one I sent a while ago never
appeared on the listserv. If by chance the original does show up, please
excuse the duplicate postings (or near-duplicate as I reconstructed this
from memory).

J&J is recalling all Children's Tylenol packages because of confusing
package instructions.

Details at http://www.jnj.com/news/jnj_news/20050603_104923.htm

If you're a tech writer looking for compelling arguments to convince
management of your worth, this story is a fine example of the high price
of bad documentation. It looks like they scrimped on usability testing
and, as a result, I'd guess that recalling those products will cost J&J
millions in lost sales and overhead, not to mention lawsuit payouts if
people are injured by mis-dosages.

--Chris

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