KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Florida-based company Apotex Corp. is voluntarily recalling four lots of its birth control pills over defective packaging that could lead to unintended pregnancy.
A recall notice on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's website said there were four recalled lots of tablets containing drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol. The two active ingredients are not found in every birth control pill.
"It is a generic, so it is possible that there could be a lot of patients impacted and have this prescription," said Dr. Katie Korte, lead clinical pharmacist at Truman Medical Center.
Korte said users should call their pharmacy or check the pamphlet that comes with their prescription to see if the two ingredients are listed there.
"There are birth control products that don't contain either one of those, there are birth control products that contain those but at different strengths," Korte said.
The defective packaging may lead someone to miss a pill or take a placebo instead of the active tablet. Korte said there is no harm in continuing to take the pills as prescribed.
"You should start a non-hormonal back-up method until you talk with your medical provider," Korte said.
So far, there have not been any reports of unintended pregnancies due to the recall. The affected drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol tablets were distributed nationwide to wholesalers and distributors.
