Abstract
We administered a questionnaire to determine changes in parental use and administration of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs after cyanide-laced Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules caused the deaths of at least seven people in Illinois in 1982. Three hundred area parents were studied and divided into three equally sized groups on the basis of economic, educational, and professional criteria.
After the Tylenol murders, all groups became anxious about the safety of OTC drugs, but intergroup differences were highly significant (p = 0.001). Attitude changes, however, did not necessarily precipitate a change in behavior. Similar percentages of each of the groups who claimed to be adversely affected by the Tylenol scare gave OTC drugs as before.
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