A study published in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy in February of 2016 shed some light on some interesting on why medications and drugs get recalled by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
FDA Recall Study
To understand why they do, researchers analyzed the entirety of FDA recalls between June 2012 and the end of December 2014. This included over 21,000 recalls of products such as dietary supplements, over-the-counter and prescription drugs, and even biological products.
Of the sample of 3,045 drugs that they ultimately considered, just over 10 percent were reported by the manufacturers themselves.
Interesting is that while many may think that these recalls happened only once to a manufacturer before they learned to be more careful in releasing dangerous drugs on the market, that’s definitely not the case. One of the drug companies the researchers studied had 299 recalls. At least two others had in excess of 200 and another two had over 100 of them.
Reasons for Recalls
The researchers found that the most common reason for the recalls included patients having an adverse reaction from taking them, packaging being mislabeled with the wrong drug or potency or because the contents were contaminated.
Another interesting finding was that drugs dispensed by compounding pharmacies tended to be more contaminated than ones from non-compounding ones.
In recent years, the diabetes drug Invokana has caused patients to suffer heart attacks or kidney disease. The blood thinner Xarelto has left patients with blood clots, brain hemorrhages or internal bleeding. These are just two in a line of many dangerous drugs. If you suspect that you have suffered an adverse medical event related to something you took, then a Houston pharmaceutical injury attorney can advise you of your rights.
