27 Aug 2010

Cracks in syringes prompt drug recall

8:52 pm on 27 August 2010

A batch of drugs used to treat low blood sugar levels is being recalled.

Medsafe says a batch of 1600 of Novo Nordisk's GlucaGen Hypokit 1 mg injection is being recalled because of cracks in some of the syringes.

Medsafe is asking pharmacies to contact all patients who have had the affected batch YW60362, with an expiry date of November 2011, and tell them to return the drugs to the pharmacy for a replacement.

It says the number of units likely to be affected by the problem is low, but the risk to patient safety is high.

The Pharmacy Guild says pharmacists should keep a record of their time and costs in doing the recall and send a bill to Novo Nordisk.

This is the fifth medicine recall community pharmacists have been involved with this year, including the May recall of the blood pressure drug Atenolol.