Lipitor bottles recalled by Pfizer

Lipitor bottles recalled by Pfizer

Pfizer, Inc. announced that it is recalling 38,000 more bottles of its best-selling cholesterol drug Lipitor after getting two more reports from customers of a foul-smelling odor in some bottles. This is the third recall in three months for Lipitor bottles, upping the total of recalled bottles to 369,000.

It is suspected that the unusual smell is produced by the chemical TBA which is used as a preservative in pallets. Earlier reports of TBA traces were behind recalls of Tylenol and other over-the-counter drugs in January. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Johnson & Johnson then of failing to notify the agency about the tainted Tylenol batches.

Pfizer, based in New York City, said that when the Tylenol recall was issued, it conducted its own tests on its shipments but were unable to detect the chemical. The world’s largest pharmaceutical firm claims that a third-party vendor supplies the bottles it uses for its products. Pfizer says they do not allow the use of TBA-laced wood for product shipment.

The FDA said that it has received “some reports of gastrointestinal events” but no major adverse effects from ingestion of medication containing TBA, and added that the safety level of TBA is yet to be determined by research.

The agency said the Lipitor recall was a voluntary action by Pfizer and was not ordered by the FDA.

Shares of Pfizer lost 0.9 percent or 16 cents to $17.42 by 4 p.m. at the New York Stock Exchange. Pfizer’s stock has slid 1 percent in the last 12 months.

Posted by George Daniels on Sunday October 31 2010, 5:14 AM EST. Ref: Bloomberg. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0