Merck is not the only pharmaceutical company with a reputation for taking very costly action to protect public health. In 1982 Johnson & Johnson volun¬tarily recalled its best-selling Tylenol® product when seven people died after consuming cyanide-laced packages of Tylenol®. While the evidence was soon clear that the packages had been tampered with after the product left Johnson & Johnson facilities, and while no packages outside of the Chicago area were involved, the company quickly and voluntarily issued a nationwide recall for all Tylenol® products. Some 31 million bottles of Tylenol®, valued at $100 mil¬lion, were taken off the market. Beyond this cost, immediately after the recall Johnson & Johnson's stock price fell by 15 percent and Tylenol lost significant market share to its competitors in the very competitive over-the-counter pain reliever market. Johnson & Johnson executives, including CEO James Burke, cited the company's credo in defending their action. That credo rank-orders Johnson & Johnson's responsibilities to customers first, followed by employees, management, local and world communities, and, only then, to stockholders. Johnson & Johnson's stock soon recovered, as did Tylenol®'s place as the lead¬ing brand of analgesic medication. Many observers believed that the quick and impressive response to this crisis played a role in this financial recovery.