Tylenol Class Action Says Rapid Release Gels Work Slower Than Regular Pills

A California man claims that Tylenol Rapid Release Gels actually take longer to work than regular tablets in a class action lawsuit filed against Johnson & Johnson.

Lead plaintiff Eduardo Hernandez alleges in his Tylenol class action lawsuit that defendant Johnson & Johnson falsely advertises the so-called rapid release acetaminophen gelcaps as dissolving faster than regular tablets, providing pain relief more quickly. The plaintiff alleges that the drug maker charges more for Tylenol Rapid Relief Gels based on this false advertising, despite knowing that they work more slowly than the less expensive regular line.

“J&J has long known that traditional, non-rapid release acetaminophen products can be equally effective in the same, if not faster, time period than its Tylenol rapid release gelcaps,” alleges the Tylenol class action lawsuit. “In fact, a new study demonstrates that Tylenol rapid release gelcaps dissolve slower than J&J’s non-rapid release products.”

According to the Tylenol class action lawsuit, Johnson & Johnson started marketing Tylenol Rapid Release Gels in 2005. The company claimed that tiny holes in the capsules allowed the pain reliever to act faster than regular Tylenol pills.

Consumers, says the plaintiff, trust the Tylenol brand to provide safe and effective pain relief for common maladies, like head and body aches, fevers, arthritis, the common cold, and even chronic pain. The Tylenol class action lawsuit contends that Johnson & Johnson capitalized on that trust to tout a product as providing fast pain relief.

“J&J sells its Tylenol rapid release gelcaps with false, misleading, deceptive labeling and marketing in an effort to dupe consumers into purchasing these gelcaps for prices that exceed their true value,” alleges the complaint in the Tylenol class action lawsuit. “J&J has pursued and continues to pursue this course of conduct in order to profit off of unassuming, unwitting consumers looking for the fastest pain-relief possible from an over-the-counter acetaminophen product.”

The plaintiff alleges in his class action lawsuit that he and other consumers were tricked into paying more for Tylenol Rapid Release Gels. Johnson & Johnson, according to the class action lawsuit, claims the rapid release version of Tylenol was marketed both online and in print as releasing medicine “even faster than before.”

Though Tylenol Rapid Release Gels were removed from the market after a 2009 recall of the product, Johnson & Johnson rereleased the product in 2017.

Tylenol Extra Strength caplets and tablets cost between $9.50 and $10.50 per bottle of 100 pills, while an equivalent amount of Tylenol Extra Strength Rapid Release gels costs $11.50, according to the class action lawsuit.

“Other companies have followed J&J’s labeling, marketing, advertising, and pricing lead and now, in general, acetaminophen products labeled, advertised, or marketed as ‘rapid release’ or ‘fast-release’ are sold on average at a price 23% higher than those acetaminophen products not making these rapid or fast release representations,” alleges the Tylenol class action lawsuit.

Hernandez seeks to represent a Class of California consumers who purchased Tylenol Extra Strength Rapid Release Gels, Tylenol PM Rapid Release Gels, or any Tylenol acetaminophen products labeled or marketed as “rapid release.”

The plaintiff is seeking damages, along with a court order requiring a nationwide recall of Tylenol Rapid Release Gels.

The lead plaintiff is represented by Crystal Foley and Mitchell M. Breit of Simmons Hanly Conroy.

The Tylenol Class Action Lawsuit is Hernandez v. Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., Case No. 5:18-cv-02422 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Eastern Division.