Pfizer Recall: The pharmaceuticals company announced on Tuesday via a press release that it will recall around one million birth control pills in the U.S. because some of them (only 30 packs actually) were packaged incorrectly and may not prevent pregnancy.

Pfizer said the pills being recalled contain wrong amount of active ingredients to prevent pregnancy because of packaging mistake from the inspection department.

Here is the statement from Pfizer:

“We have announced a voluntary recall of Lo/Ovral®-28 (norgestrel and ethinyl estradiol) and Norgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol Tablets (generic) birth control pills in the United States.

“We understand that this news can be very concerning and confusing for any woman who takes birth control pills to protect against unintended pregnancies.

“We share your concerns and want to provide you with the most up-to-date and accurate information.

“Recently, it came to our attention that there may be an issue with the way some of these pills were packaged…and that the inactive or placebo pill may have been placed out-of-order in some packs.

“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.

“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.

“If you are a woman in the United States who has used Lo-Ovral or Norgestrel pills over the last several months, please consult with your physician and begin using a non-hormonal barrier method immediately.

“Patients can view pictures of the affected products and lot numbers included in the recall by visiting:

Correctly Packaged LoOrval Blister Pack Image –
www.pfizer.com/img/news/LoOvralCorrectPkg.jpg

Correctly Packaged Norgestrel Image –
http://www.pfizer.com/img/news/NorgestrelCorrectPkg.jpg

With almost a million faulty pills in circulation, it’s safe to assume that a number of unexpected pregnancy in the US will result to this incident, well for those who were not able to get the memo at least. 🙂