The Food & Drug Administration just issued a huge recall of medications designed to help those with suffering from cough, cold, or allergies. The FDA has yanked over 500 different prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) products as being unapproved by the agency and therefore not legally available to the American consumer.
According to the FDA, these “… unapproved prescription cough, cold, and allergy drug products have not been evaluated by the FDA for safety, effectiveness, and quality. People may be at greater risk when using these products than when using FDA-approved prescription drugs or drugs that are appropriately marketed over-the-counter (OTC). ”
What’s the problem here? Apparently, the FDA has three main concerns that encompass all these medications:
- Some of these drugs are inappropriately labeled for use in infants and children.
- Some products may be manufactured incorrectly, which could result in consumers receiving an inappropriately large or an ineffective dose.
- Some of these products may have potentially risky combinations of ingredients.
The manufacturers have 90 days to stop making these products. They have six months to discontinue distribution.
What Cold, Cough, or Allergy Medications Are Being Recalled? Have You or Your Loved Ones Been Harmed?
If you believe that you or your loved ones (spouse, parents, kids) have been harmed by a medication you bought at the store or got from the doctor (or pharmacist) for a cough, cold, or allergy, then the first thing to do is seek medical treatment, of course. It’s also important to keep the container, to stop using the medication (after discussing discontinued use with your health care provider), and to write down your recollection as best you can of what has transpired. Symptoms before the medication, symptoms after, etc. If you have questions about pursuing a claim for damages sustained, you can contact the FDA or your local legal counsel.
List of Cold, Cough, and Allergy Drugs Recalled by FDA on March 2, 2011
Unsure if your medication is subject to the recall? The list is much too long to provide in this post; however you can review the long list of recalled products here, at the FDA site.
