Innovator behind Tylenol dies
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Robert L. McNeil Jr., the grandson of the founder of McNeil Laboratories and the driving force behind the launch of the first widely marketed non-aspirin OTC pain reliever, dies at age 94. McNeil, who remained with McNeil Laboratories when Johnson & Johnson acquired it in 1959 before retiring in 1964, died of heart failure on May 20 at his home in Wyndmoor, Pa. In 1936, he joined the firm his grandfather started in 1897, according to an obituary published by Kirk and Nice Funeral Homes. McNeil spearheaded the development of Butisol drugs, led the team that created Tylenol and named the active ingredient acetaminophen. Tylenol remains an iconic OTC brand