packaging mix-up that puts women at risk for unplanned pregnancy.
The pharmaceutical manufacturer said the issue involved a mix-up of it’s 14 lots of Lo/Ovral-28 tablets and 14 lots of Norgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol tablets, meaning that some of the placebo pills were placed within the daily active pill cycle. The affected packets have expiration dates ranging between July 31, 2013, and March 31, 2014, and the lot numbers are located on Pfizer’s website. While the birth control pills pose no health threat to women, the company urged consumers affected by the recall to “begin using a non-hormonal form of contraception immediately.”
The pills were manufactured by Pfizer and marketed by Akrimax Pharmaceuticals and shipped to warehouses, clinics and retail pharmacies nationwide.
Birth control pills are normally packaged in packs containing 21 tablets of active ingredients and seven placebo tablets. Contraception may be significantly weakened if the sequence of birth control pills is out of order, according to Dr. Adam Jacobs, assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive Science at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.
“If this is the case, patients may be experiencing irregular bleeding and may be at higher risk for unintended pregnancy,” said Jacobs to ABC News. “If a patient has this lot number they should stop taking the pills immediately and discuss other birth control options with their physician including emergency contraception, if necessary.”
This case follows a larger recall in last fall when a young woman sued manufacturer Qualitest Products, Inc., claiming that she became pregnant due to a similiar accident with packaging of her pills. An investigation of the case led to recalling eight brands of its birth control pills, totaling 1.4 million packages.