Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Lipitor RECALL! Smelly news...

Okay, in the last week, I've talked about STATINS and SMELL, but never thought they'd be related...

It turns out that Pfizer has issued a recall for 191,000 specific bottles of Lipitor 40mg (see http://lipitor.com/recall.aspx) because patients noticed an "uncharacteristic smell" in the bottles of this medication. Rest assured, there have been no complaints of any adverse outcomes, and I applaud the company for being proactive and issuing this recall. Additionally, the company does not believe this recall will affect the supply of this or any other dosage of Lipitor.

If you take Lipitor in any other dose, there is no concern at all. If you take the 40mg dose, simply contact your pharmacy if you notice any unusual odor.

The FDA publishes a current list of all recalls and safety alerts at: http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/ContactFDA/StayInformed/RSSFeeds/Recalls/rss.xml If you want to be automatically informed, you can sign up for an RSS feed. We are fortunate to have such a watchdog service in our country!

BOTTOM LINE: Yes, there is a limited Lipitor recall, and no, there is no need for panic, but if you catch a whiff of an unusual odor in your bottle of Lipitor, take it back to the pharmacy.

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