Friday, February 27, 2009

Drug Recalls... What The Hell Is Going On?

Anyone remember the days when it was rare to get a drug recall? You know like two years ago or so?

Seriously what the hell is going on? I remember it being a very big deal, and very surprising, when Able Pharmaceuticals went under a few years back. And in the last year there has been major recalls on, what it seems like, everything in the damned pharmacy. Ethex and Actavis damn near recalled everything they make.

On top of that, and this may be related, there are multiple drug shortages right now. I mean I haven't seen a bottle of Isosorbide Mononitrate or Oxycodone IR 5mg come in an order in weeks. Metoprolol ER is another which is quite hard to come by. Hell we got a notice last week that Hydrocodone/APAP 7.5/500mg from Mallinckrodt was unavailable until early March.

Have these companies been so lax in their practices to the point where there is a questioning of their safety? I pray to God the mass media does not get wind of this, speaking of which it's surprising they haven't, because this could be a donkey punch for all involved.

I literally have filled up two folders with drug recalls in the last year. Doesn't help we use six wholesalers so we get six notices. It's like working for fuckin' Initech.

In the long run, I suppose, this is a good thing, but does anyone else think it's gotten a bit out of hand in the last year?

1 comment:

Frantic Pharmacist said...

Bill Lumbergh! Yeaaahhhh.....
There are a lot of shortages right now. I don't like getting people switched to TID isosorbide dinitrate or having to charge brand-name copays for Toprol XL (when we can even get that.) I think we're still pretty lucky in this country to enjoy relatively uninterrupted access to pharmaceuticals -- or at least reasonable substitutes when certain products are short. You do wonder what's going on with these manufacturers, like Ethex.