Might a packaging error mean the pitter patter of a lot of little lawsuits in the future? Endo Pharmaceuticals, parent company of Qualitest Pharmaceuticals, has issued a voluntary national recall of about 1.4 million packages of birth control pills that went out to pharmacists and consumers with botched packaging in the past year.
A keen-eyed pharmacist spotted the error, which obscured the expiration dates, but far worse, put the pills out of sequence. Properly packaged birth control pills typically come in packs of 28 with seven inactive or placebo pills at the end, which allow for a menstrual cycle. In the botched packages the inactive pills were put at the beginning of the cycle, which could result in pregnancy. From The Huntsville Times:
“Qualitest is recalling the following pill brands, Cyclafem 7/7/7, Cyclafem 1/35, Emoquette, Gildess FE 1,5/30, Gildess FE 1/20, Orsythia, Previfem and Tri-Previfem. Lot numbers can be found at https://www.qualitestrx.com/pdf/OCRecall.pdf. Doctors, pharmacists or women seeking additional information can call 877-300-6153.”
In the meantime, a non-hormonal form of birth control is recommended.
CNN reports that a Qualitest spokesman said "there are no immediate health issues currently" and “the unintended consequence of pregnancy is really the issue,” but how are they different? It’s not like leaving the chalupa out of someone’s order, fercrissakes. Unintended pregnancy is an immediate health issue, at least you’d think so was if you were stuck on the wrong end—literally—of a bad pill package.
A keen-eyed pharmacist spotted the error, which obscured the expiration dates, but far worse, put the pills out of sequence. Properly packaged birth control pills typically come in packs of 28 with seven inactive or placebo pills at the end, which allow for a menstrual cycle. In the botched packages the inactive pills were put at the beginning of the cycle, which could result in pregnancy. From The Huntsville Times:
“Qualitest is recalling the following pill brands, Cyclafem 7/7/7, Cyclafem 1/35, Emoquette, Gildess FE 1,5/30, Gildess FE 1/20, Orsythia, Previfem and Tri-Previfem. Lot numbers can be found at https://www.qualitestrx.com/pdf/OCRecall.pdf. Doctors, pharmacists or women seeking additional information can call 877-300-6153.”
In the meantime, a non-hormonal form of birth control is recommended.
CNN reports that a Qualitest spokesman said "there are no immediate health issues currently" and “the unintended consequence of pregnancy is really the issue,” but how are they different? It’s not like leaving the chalupa out of someone’s order, fercrissakes. Unintended pregnancy is an immediate health issue, at least you’d think so was if you were stuck on the wrong end—literally—of a bad pill package.