More bottles of Lipitor recalled by Pfizer
The world famous drug developer Pfizer recalled another batch of Lipitor, and this time, the company had to recall 19,000 bottles of it. Lipitor is a blockbuster cholesterol drug. However, more and more customers have been complaining for the uncharacteristic odor that it produces.
This has been marked as the fourth recall since August for the same issue. According to Pfizer, the bottles were from an outside manufacturing supplier and chose not to identify it. In addition, Pfizer said that there is but minimal health consequences on Lipitor.
The bottles that have been recalled were said to be containing 40 milligrams of tablets and that there have been a consistent complaints about the odor. The foul odor was caused by 2, 4, 6-tribromoanisole, a chemical that is used in preserving wood. Most often, this said chemical is applied to pallets that are being used in transporting and storing some products. However, Pfizer said that the use of the chemical is not allowed when shipping its medicines.
The company in New York made some changes in August for wanting to solve the issue. They said that necessary recalls should and will be done so that other batches of Lipitor bottles that are not in good condition can be recalled before being shipped.
A company statement states that "Pfizer has a very rigorous quality and compliance program that includes a highly sensitive surveillance system, which has enabled Pfizer to quickly detect and respond to the odor-related issue." Furthermore, they said, "Our market actions reflect the rigor of our quality control system and a commitment to act rapidly and in the best interest of our customers."
Since the first recall, there has been a total of 360,000 bottles of Lipitor recollected by Pfizer because of the odor issue. However, Pfizer said that there will not be a shortage of Lipitor despite the massive recall of products. Lipitor is currently the best selling prescription drug in the U.S. Last year, a total sales of $7.5 billion has been reported.