drug recall

Hospira Incorporated, a pharmaceutical manufacturer specializing in injectable medications and headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, has issued a voluntary recall for a single production lot of injectable morphine sulfate. This recall has been announced at the urging of the United States Food and Drug Administration due to a labeling error that could result in a patient receiving an incorrect dosage of the drug. Hospira Incorporated has received two consumer complaints that its Morphine Sulfate Injection USP, 4 milligram/milliliter (C-II), 1 milliliter fill in 2.5 milliliter Carpuject, NDC 0409-1258-30 syringes contained more than the 1 milliliter volume indicated on the label affixed to product’s packaging. The company currently believes this error to be limited to a single production line. The product is a glass cartridge prefilled with morphine sulfate for use with the Carpucet Syringe system. The consequences of a morphine overdose can be deadly. Symptoms of a morphine overdose include low blood pressure and slowed or suspended breathing patterns, also known as respiratory depression. The lot affected by this recall was distributed to hospitals in several states across the country, including: Indiana, Texas, Colorado, Illinois, Hawaii, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Arizona and Virginia. The production lot number affected by this recall is 10830LL, and morphine cartridges included in this production lt are stamped with the expiration date of April 1, 2013. Consumers seeking more information can call the Hospira Medical Communications hotline, open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

The United States Food and Drug Administration keeps a current list of all recalled drugs on its drug recall web page. Recalls designated Class I are typically issued in response to defective drugs that pose severe health risks resulting in severe illness or death. In recent years the number of recalls issued for prescription medications and over the counter drugs. Biological products made from ingredients extracted from living organisms such as animals, humans and microbes, especially vaccines, are increasingly becoming the subject of recalls. GBI Research conducted a detailed analysis of biologic recalls issued between 2007 and 2010. The report concluded that biologically derived products are often released before they’ve been sufficiently tested because the complicated manufacturing and sterilization processes leave room for impurities and production defects. During the four year time span covered by the study, 14 recalls were issued for immunizations, and 13 recalls were issues for immunoglobulins, for potential health problems including the presence of contaminants such as glass particles, or other quality defects, mislabeled packaging, and manufacturing defects. Last year, an FDA inspection revealed burnt plastic fragments in vaccine vials at a Merck pharmaceutical manufacturing plant.

As a personal injury attorney in San Francisco, I hope medication and vaccines become safer for consumers. If you or someone you love has been made ill by a recalled drug or vaccine, please consider contacting a Bakersfield personal injury lawyer.

The appearance of an over the counter medication’s packaging has led health authorities to request the medication’s recall due to the risk that it might mislead parents into erroneously thinking the package is child proof.

A voluntary recall has been announced for some of the over the counter pain medication manufactured by Vita Health Products. The recall will be overseen by Health Canada. The design of the packaging of the pain medication might give consumers the impression that the packaging is child proof when it isn’t. Five lots of bottles containing 120 Compliments Extra Strength Acetaminophen Gelcaps. The Vita Health gel caps affected by this recall has been distributed to IGA and Sobeys retail stores, and possibly other locations as well. The lack of safety components in the gel cap packaging increases the odds that the packaging could be opened by a child who may potentially swallow the pills and become ill. The recall is listed on the Health Canada website along with other products that fail to meet national safety regulations.

As a San Francisco car accident attorney, I hope word of this recall reaches people in time to prevent any children from being made ill. If you or a loved one has been harmed by a defective product please consider contacting a personal injury lawyer in San Francisco to discuss your options for legal recourse.

The United States Food and Drug Administration in, cooperation with the Stericycle pharmaceutics manufacturing company, has issued a safety recall for a single lot of Carpuject morphine syringes after reports that two of the syringes from this lot contained more morphine than their labeled fill volume  of 1 milliliter. A morphine overdose can cause potentially fatal medical complications such as lowered blood pressure and slowed or suspended breathing (also known as respiratory depression). The potentially mislabeled morphine syringes originated from lot number 10830LL with an April 1, 2013 expiration date, and they were distributed in January 2012 to medical centers and wholesalers throughout Texas, Colorado, Illinois, Hawaii, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Arizona and Virginia. These prefilled glass syringes were manufactured to be used with the Carpuject Syringe system. The Morphine Sulfate Carpujects 4 milligrams/milliliter are packaged in tamper detecting Slim-Pak packages containing 10 Carpujects. Medical centers or wholesalers in possession of affected syringes should separate them from the rest of their medical supply stock and return them to the manufacturer for a refund. Anyone adversely affected by this product is encouraged to contact the Food and Drug Administration’s Medwatch Adverse Event Reporting Program.

As a personal injury lawyer in Fresno, I hope this recall is carried out before anyone is harmed by this potential labeling error. If you have been injured by a mislabeled or defective product, please consider contacting a Long Beach personal injury attorney.

Sun Pharmaceuticals, thebiggest drug manufacturer in India, has announced a voluntary recall of approximately 1.55 million  units of eye solution in the United States, due to  an impure medicine formula,  according to the United States Food and Drug Administration. 

The eye solution, used to treat conjunctivitis, was discovered to contain impurities that were not up to the Food and Drug Administration’s specifications.

The recall is classified by the FDA as a Class III recall, defined as a recall of medication that is unlikely to cause any harmful health effects for patients. The eye solution originated from the city of Gujarat, where Sun Pharmaceuticals’ Halol plant is located. This is a common classification of drug recall in the United States, and does not necessarily reflect upon the drug’s effectiveness.

Two other medications, manufactured by Cipla,, also headquartered in India, have been recalled for impurities as well. Cipla, based in Mumbai, is recalling from the United States two drugs made by its partner companies Teva Pharmaceuticals and Eagle Pharmaceuticals. Teva has issued a recall for 7,260 units of its prostate cancer treatment drug flutamide and Eagle Pharmaceuticals is recalling an unknown amount of argatroban injection units.

As a Bakersfield personal injury lawyer, I hope these drug impurities don’t lead to any harm for consumers. If you or someone you know was negatively affected by a defective drug, please consider contacting a Fresno personal injury attorney.

Sandoz Canada Incorporated has issued a voluntary recall for approximately 57,000 vials of injectable morphine due to a possible health hazard created by improper packaging. The pharmaceutics manufacturer, headquartered in Quebec, became aware of a packaging error after a Toronto hospital found four vials of an adrenaline-type heart drug known as isoproterenol hydrochloride inside a package of the injectable morphine, the company’s second most popular version of the drug. A notice was immediately sent to hospitals warning them to quarantine any 2-mg/ml ampoules of the morphine sulphate injection from the recalled lot. In addition to recalling the 57,000 vials, Sandoz will perform a thorough inspection of the more than 100,000 vials that remain in its possession before releasing any of the vials to medical centers. The drug mistakenly put into at least one 10-count package of ingestible morphine, as isoproterenol hydrochloride acts in a way similar to adrenaline is employed after incidences of cardiac arrest before pacemaker treatments or defibrillator paddles are used. Sandoz has recently announced that it would cease the production of some of its drugs and decrease the production of others after the American Food and Drug Administration demanded the company improve its methods of quality control.

As a San Bernardino personal injury attorney, I hope this recall was announced in time to prevent anyone from being hurt. If you have been harmed by a recalled product, please consider hiring a Ventura personal injury lawyer.

Apotex Incorporated has issued a voluntary recall for one lot of its hypertension treatment drug Apo-Ramipril 5mg Capsules. This recall has been issued to retail businesses throughout Canada. The recall of the Apo-Ramipril 5mg Capsules in Lot JR2178 is due to the fact that the capsules are sealed and empty of any medication. Health Canada is currently informing the public of this problem, which first became apparent after a patient complained about the empty capsules. Patients being treated for hypertension taking capsules from this lot will not receive the recommended dosage of their prescribed medication, which may cause kidney problems, stroke, inadequate blood circulation, internal bleeding, heart attack or stroke. Patients who have recently experienced a heart attack or may be at risk for a heart attack or stroke may have also been prescribed Apo-Ramipril 5mg Capsules, though the drug is primarily used to treat hypertension. The medication affected in this recall are labeled with the drug identification number DIN 02252574. The capsules are not transparent, so determining whether the capsule has medication inside it can be a problem.

As a Riverside personal injury lawyer, I am hopeful that this medical recall has been issued in time to prevent anyone from being harmed, but all too often that is not the case. If you or someone you love has been injured or made ill by a defective medical product, please consider contacting a Ventura personal injury lawyer.

A recall has been announced for an item that there’s already a shortage of thanks to a variety of other recalls.

Bedford Laboratories out of Ohio has issued a voluntary recall for three lots of cytarabine.  This is used in the treatment of leukemia, and is a particularly popular chemotherapy drug due to its irreplaceability in fighting the cancer.

Following an investigation at the plant where the drug was made, Bedford has said that they are concerned about the sterility of these particular lots, which have an expiration date between March 2014 and May 2014.  Production of the drug was previously halted due to a lack of required maintenance and testing of vital equipment.  It was resumed earlier this year.

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration asked for cytarabine, Doxil, and preservative-free methotrexate to be made available through additional sources because of rampant shortages that resulted from recalls and issues with manufacture.  Methotrexate is used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children, while Doxil is administered to women suffering from various cancers, including ovarian.

It saddens me as a personal injury lawyer in San Diego to think that certain life saving drugs might not be available, or that those drugs might have had a defect in the first place.  As a Ventura personal injury lawyer, I hope everyone who needs the drugs is able to receive them.

According to news sources, a recall has recently been announced by GlaxoSmithKline for a drug packaged in Nebraska. The recall affects about 400,000 bottles of a blood pressure drug called DynaCirc CR, which was packaged in Nebraska at a Novartis plant.

The plant is reportedly manufacturing the generic drug on a contract basis. There have been no reported contamination complaints or tablet mix-ups to date in association with the recalled drug. The recall was reportedly issued after the Food and Drug Administration voiced “compliance concerns” regarding the packaging process of the generic drug.

The recall is the second one to be issued by the company for drugs manufactured at the same plant during this year. The plant was also temporarily shut down in mid-December due to an FDA investigation.

As a Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyer, I appreciate all efforts being made to ensure increased drug safety standards and encourage consumers to learn more about the potential risks associated with similar product recalls. If you or a loved one has been injured through the use or consumption of a defective product, speak with a personal injury lawyer San Bernardino learn about the legal options available to you.

In a show of just how much damage a product recall can do to a bottom line, Johnson and Johnson has been reported to have taken charges of $3 billion, and their earnings forecast for 2012 is below previous projected numbers.

In 2010, the company’s DePuy Orthopedics Division announced a recall of their “metal-on-metal” hip replacement device.  The issue involved the shedding of metal fragments, which led to debilitating injuries in those who had the device implanted.  The failure rate for the recalled product hovered around the 30% rate, three times the norm for similar products.  The full cost of the various recalls to the company can’t yet be measured since settlements have not yet occurred.

Right around the time that the artificial hips were being recalled, Johnson & Johnson also recalled a number of medicines, including Tylenol and Motrin, due to a lack of quality control at certain factories.

For the quarter, the company earned $218 million, compared with $1.9 billion a year earlier.

As a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer, I can attest that recalls are an important tool in keeping companies held accountable.  They may hurt a company’s financial outlook, but companies should be able to rebuild as long as they do the responsible thing.  A personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles like myself sees recalls not as a detriment to business but as an integral part of developing a trusting relationship between corporation and consumer.