J&J named Roberto Marques to serve as the company group chairman responsible for the recall-plagued McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit, but pushed back hard against a Wall Street Journal article suggesting that the promotion was part of a corporate shakeup of the division.

Marques, already company group chairman for consumer, North America, will take on his new duties  from Patrick Mutchler, who is retiring “after 35 years of exemplary service,” said J&J VP, public affairs and communication Raymond Jordan in an open letter to the paper. Marques will assume oversight of J&J’s OTC, nutritionals and wellness and prevention businesses.