Cholesterol Drug Lipitor Recalled By Pfizer Inc. For The Third Time
October 31st, 2010 - 6:48 pm ICT by GDBy Gina Gomez
Washington, Oct 31, (THAINDIAN NEWS) An estimated 38,000 bottles of the cholesterol-fighting drug Lipitor has been recalled by American drug manufacturer Pfizer Inc. in the wake of reports of a particular unpleasant odor related to the packaging bottles. The decision to recall the largest selling prescription drug across the world, was taken by the U.S. drugmaker after an “uncharacteristic odor” was found in some of the bottles of the medicines. This is the third time that Lipitor has been recalled by Pfizer Inc. this year for the same issue.
In a statement that was released by the American drug manufacturer on Friday, it was mentioned that the company has thoroughly examined the root cause of the problem related to the Lipitor bottles that has been persisting for quite some time now. The statement read that the rather unpleasant odor in the bottles of Lipitor emanated from episodic exposure of the containers to TBA (tribromoanisole) while they were being shipped or stored. At the same time, Pfizer Inc. noted that the rate of the complaints relating to the odor problem was less than three per million bottles while adding that medical assessment has pointed out that the risk that the odor problem poses to patients appears to be minimal.
In the meanwhile, company sources have confirmed that the recall is likely to affect Lipitor 40 mg tablets which have been distributed across the United States. With regard to the odor problem, in the past three months, Pfizer Inc. has already recalled a whopping 360,000 Lipitor bottles. The drugmaker has stated that the bottles were procured from a third-party manufacturer.
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