THE RECALL ROLL CALL

Laptop owners around the world were thrown into a tizzy when Dell announced on Monday that it was recalling 4.1 million batteries after several incidents of laptops catching fire.

Laptop owners around the world were thrown into a tizzy when Dell announced on Monday that it was recalling 4.1 million batteries after several incidents of laptops catching fire. The decision, marking one of the biggest safety recalls in the history of consumer electronics, and posing a serious threat to Dell8217;s bottomline, underlines two related facts about American business practice. First, the principle of responsibility, which keeps customer concerns in mind; second, the system of torts and swift justice, which ensures the first. Here8217;s a list of some famous cases 8211; and not even one from India

8226; The Tylenol Murders1982: Seven people in the Chicago area died after ingesting Extra Strength Tylenol paracetamol capsules which had been laced with cyanide. Manufacturers Johnson 038; Johnson responded by recalling all bottles nationwide: 31 million bottles, valued at 100 million. The perpetrator has never been caught, but the incident led to reforms in the packaging of over-the-counter substances 8211; and the creation of tamper-proof 8216;caplets8217;

8226; Ford8217;s Flat Tyres 2001: This was a series of problems with the Firestone tyres Ford vehicles were equipped with at the time; in May 2000, following a series of highway accidents, Ford recalled 6.5 million tyres used on the Explorer SUV; a year later, the recall of a further 13 million tyres ended the 100-year relationship between Ford and Firestone. Total costs to Ford were estimated at 2.1 billion

8226; The Sudan 1 Scare: Sudan I is a dye used in oils, solvents and waxes, with possible carcinogenic effects. In February 2005, it was found that a sauce manufactured by Premier Foods in the UK, and widely used in pre-cooked foods, was contaminated with the dye 8211; and the dye originated in chilli powder from India. That led to more than 400 products being taken off supermarket. Later, it was found that the scare was probably overhyped.

8226; All Panned Out: In April 2003, Australia8217;s Therapeutic Goods Administration, the government8217;s medicines watchdog, ordered an urgent recall of 219 products made and supplied by Pan Pharmaceuticals, a company calling itself 8216;8217;the largest independent contract manufacturer of ethical drugs and health supplements in the world8217;8217;. The recall was sparked by the earlier recall of an anti-travel sickness tablet manufactured by Pan for another company. Investigations exposed manufacturing problems: Within a pack, some tablets had no active ingredient, and within the same pack at least one tablet had up to seven times the amount.

8226; Off The PaceMAKER: Last year, US company Guidant was hit by two successive crises when flaws were detected first in its implantable heart defibrillators, and a few weeks later in its pacemakers. The first problem ran into tens of thousands of units; the second affected 28,000 pacemakers, most implanted in patients. The two controversies raised questions about how the US Food and Drug Administration dealt with safety data on medical devices.