The Chicago Tylenol murders occurred when seven people died after taking pain-relief medicine capsules that had been poisoned. The poisonings, code-named TYMURS by the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Bureau of Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...

, took place in late 1982 in the Chicago area of the United States.

These poisonings involved Extra-Strength Tylenol

Tylenol

Tylenol is a North American brand of drugs advertised for reducing pain, reducing fever, and relieving the symptoms of allergies, cold, cough, and flu. The active ingredient of its original, flagship product, paracetamol , is marketed as an analgesic and antipyretic...

 capsules, manufactured by McNeil Consumer Healthcare

McNeil Laboratories

McNeil Consumer Healthcare is a medicals products company belonging to the Johnson & Johnson healthcare products group.-History:The company was founded on March 16, 1879 by 23-year-old Robert McNeil, who paid $167 for a drugstore complete with fixtures, inventory and soda fountain, as a retail...

, which had been laced with potassium cyanide

Potassium cyanide

Potassium cyanide is an inorganic compound with the formula KCN. This colorless crystalline compound, similar in appearance to sugar, is highly soluble in water. Most KCN is used in gold mining, organic synthesis, and electroplating. Smaller applications include jewelry for chemical gilding and...

. The incidents led to reforms in the packaging of over-the-counter substances and to federal anti-tampering laws.