Lo/Ovral (FDA) |
Pfizer is recalling 1 million packets of birth control pills because there’s a problem with the order of pills in the packaging. It’s an error that could lead to unintended pregnancies.
The company says there’s a mix-up with its Lo/Ovral-28 brand tablets, and generic-brand Norgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol tablets marketed under the Akrimax Rx Products name.
When using those pills, women take the active-ingredient white pills for 21 days followed by the pink placebo pills for 7 days. But according to Pfizer, some of the pink pills are appearing at the wrong time of month, when women are fertile.
Pfizer has issued a complete list of the recalled pill’s lot numbers on their company website.
Women who are taking one of the recalled pills – all of which expire between July 31, 2013 and March 31, 2014 - should return them to the pharmacy, consult their health care providers and begin a non-hormonal barrier contraceptive.
"Upon discovery of the issue, we took corrective action and notified the FDA. Based on our own rigorous internal assessments of this problem, we believe there are approximately 30 packs of birth control pills that may have received an inexact count or inactive tablet. Because of our high quality standards, should we identify even one package that does not meet our high standards, we will voluntarily recall the entire lot," Pfizer said in a written statement.
“Therefore, we have voluntarily recalled the 28 lots – which is approximately 1 million packs – to ensure that any possibly impacted product is removed from pharmacy shelves – and women who use the product are alerted. "
