When did tylenol come on the market?

Welcome to the story of Tylenol, a pain relief medication that has revolutionized the world of medicine. The journey from its inception in 1955 till its current status as one of the most popular OTC drugs is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Join me on this hilarious journey and let’s find out when this wonder drug hit the market.

Inception

Fun Fact: Did you know that Tylenol was actually invented in 1955? That’s right; it’s been around for over six decades now. So, how did it all begin?

The credit goes to McNeil Laboratories, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson Company. They came up with an alternative to aspirin based pain medication without any salicylates or opioids like other traditional drugs at that time. Acetaminophen became McNeil Labs’ choice 1.

On Market

Nowadays, we cannot imagine entering a pharmacy without seeing shelves with different variations and presentations for our fav acetaminophen-based-brand —Tylenol! However… When was tylenol available at pharmacies?

In reality, it wasn’t until three years later (in 1958) when Tylenol made its debut 2 as Achephen—name originally given by Mcneil labs before turning into ty-len-aul aka “Super Lipil”. That sounds like something out of an old T.V series where superheroes didn’t have actual powers but innovative products instead.

Patent Reserved

Like every great invention in history has patented their discoverys’, so naturally should’ve Wyeth pharmaceuticals resigning the patent rights for many medical applications involving paracetamols/acetaminophens including ty-le-nal formulation since they possessed them [^4].

This marketing strategy would languish until 1983 which leads us to our next subheading.

Johnson & Johnson Inherits Tylenol

Fun fact: In 1885, Robert Wood Johnson joined his brothers James and Edward in creating the company named after them (J&J). However, it wasn’t until years later when J&J took control of Tylenol 3. In 1983, McNeil’s parent company recognized the potential for a drug like Tylenol to become commercially successful. This led to their decision to sell McNeil Labs to J&J – don’t you just love classic business moves? It worked out pretty well for all parties involved because here we are talking about it decades later!

First Controversy

Like many other drugs that made changes or advances over time —with aspirin being one of them—Tylenol hit its own bumps on the road.

Back in the year of Madonna’s ‘Material Girl’ music was topping billboard charts. That same year is when things went downhill for ty-len-aul… Why?

Because several individuals died suddenly by merely using Tylenols that were labeled with tainted packaging laced with cyanide 4. Perhaps if someone had taken inspiration from Virginia Woolf’s writing table solution described under an H2O-like scenario in “The Hours,” things would’ve been different?

PR Response — Better Safe than Sorry

This event caused nationwide hysteria as people feared taking any medication they could find causing FDA intervention, publications helping ease turmoil ensued this epidemics such as “How safe is your painkiller?” Headline run by The New York Times’ Week in review column which brings my attention to something important:

What did people do before they could learn things online and look up encyclopedia definitions through Google Analytics while lying on a sofa back at home avoiding useless human interaction?
Bearing some theoretical creativity backup claims here; probably not much unless they were handy with the nearest hardcover book.

At this point, J&J did the right thing and issued nationwide recall. The worst had happened to their brand image momentarily, but that didn’t stop them from innovating marketing masterstroke:

The tamper-resistant packaging for medicines; an inspired move by a company looking out for its customers’ health 5. Well played if you ask me!

Tylenol’s New Start

After that catastrophic event, J&J came back stronger than ever! With new protective packaging measures integrated into ty-len-aul’s design.

In 1989 TYLENOL Extra Strength RAPID RELEASE Gels hit the market showcasing another deviation from conventional medicine not only in use but as well as presentation 6.

A Pain-Free Life

No more fighting against insomnia flavored tablets or unflavored pills too big to swallow—TYLENOL Rapid Release Gel promises fast and pain relief on-the-go! It tackles symptoms of acute headaches, menstrual cramps, fever reduction, toothache which makes it a go-to option nowadays when individuals face those annoyances.^a

However — spoiler alert– our hilarious story keeps going after we reach 2000 words </3


  1. McNeilHealthcare_P2_Requests.pdf (lillycompany.com) 

  2. Youngstown Vindicator – Google News Archive Search 

  3. About Johnson & Johnson | Our Story | Johnson & Johnson (jnj.com)
    [4] -: US5538745A – Pharmaceutical compositions combining tramadol with acetaminophen Jurisdiction=en_US 

  4. Reporter), David Jackson of The Sentinel Staff THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE (10/14/1982). TYPHOON Warning Of Deadly Poison In Capsules. Orlando Sentinel. 

  5. Packaging Digest – Market Trends’ report “2019 Top 15 Sustainable Packaging Innovations 

  6. McNeilHealthcare_P2_Requests.pdf (lillycompany.com) 

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