With relatives like these, who needs enemies?

So, yes, I've been away for a while...not that there has been any shortage of things I wanted to write about -- it's just that somehow, life got in the way.

But fear no more -- I'm back and as paranoid as ever!

Today, I'm in a tizzy over a little company you may have heard of called Johnson & Johnson. Now, they bill themselves as "a family company," but I ask you, would anyone in your family knowingly give you something that might endanger your health? (if so, you have bigger problems that probably deserve more paranoia than my blog can supply).

The recall of various kids medicines including Motrin, Tylenol and Benadryl is now old news, having been pulled from shelves months ago with the original recall happening last July. But today, details emerged that are even more disturbing to me than the original recall notice. Allegedly, prior to the public recall, the company issued a "phantom recall," hiring another company to have employees pose as consumers and attempt to purchase the tainted medication before the issue was made known to the masses. This is wrong on so many levels I don't even know where to begin. I mean, it's not as if we're talking about a bake sale and a mom who tries to pass off store-bought goodies as homemade. This is medication we're talking about -- medication designed specifically for children, nonetheless. To attempt to evade a recall by such deceptive practice is totally unspeakable. Who knows how many additional bottles of questionable medicines were purchased during the time in which J&J knowingly deceived consumers by leaving it on the shelf rather than issuing an immediate recall.

Legislators are now investigation the company's motive and whether or not they sought to preserve their reputation at the expense of responsibility and safety to consumers. Well, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck.....?

If this is not enough to drive you to purchase generic over-the-counter meds, I don't know what will. The latest recall from J&J covers more than 40 medications that make up 70 percent of the pediatric market. I know my own medicine cabinet was filled with them.

Johnson & Johnson -- a family company? I think not.