Twenty-five years ago, a mysterious terrorist struck in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights. The weapon was cyanide, which was mixed with the pain-reliever, Tylenol. The tainted tablets were dropped inside plastic containers where no one would find them, except the victim’s loved ones.
Helen Jensen still can't forget. A nurse, she was dispatched with investigators to the home where people died from the ingested medicine. "Six capsules were missing, and three people were dead," she told Fox News this week.
In a 72-hour span, seven people unknowingly swallowed cyanide-laced pain medication and died in Chicago and four of its suburbs. After the clandestine attack, drug store clerks nationwide grabbed Tylenol bottles from shelves. Jeffrey Leebaw, spokesman for Tylenol maker Johnson & Johnson, declined to comment when contacted by FOX News.
Though the tragedy took seven lives, it might have saved hundreds of others. Nowadays, containers are sealed. If the product is tainted and a seal is broken, consumers would be forewarned.
"Every time you open a bottle or package (of medicine, food or drink) that has tamper- evidence features -- a band around the lid or an interior seal -- it is because of the Tylenol case," said Pan Demetrakakes, executive editor of Food & Drug Packaging magazine.
It’s reminiscent of the Columbine tragedy in Littleton, Co. When SWAT team members arrived at the school, they had trouble locating the injured and the gunmen. Drive by a school today and every door entrance is marked with a yellow or white aluminum sign bearing a number. Should Columbine be mimicked, emergency personnel at least would have these markers as parameters.
Regardless of emergency improvements, family members from the Tylenol incident will forever grieve.
"It's hard to bring this up," said Patricia Kellerman, whose 12-year-old granddaughter, Mary Kellerman, died in her home after taking the tainted drug for a sore throat. "Nothing ever changes," she said.
"I will never get past this because this guy is out there, living his life, however miserable it might be," said Michelle Rosen, who was eight years old when her mother, Mary Reiner, collapsed in front of her after ingesting the pain medication for cramps.
Now 33, Rosen can't forget her mother suffering as she labored to breathe. She sees her shaking and falling to the floor. Then, she hears the ambulance’s siren, the voices of paramedics and her mother being transported on a stretcher.
The case is cold but still open. However, police get no new tips, said Kenneth Galinski, detective commander of the Arlington Heights Police Department. He said the case isn't discussed because most of the officers involved in that case are retired.
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