Millions of acetaminophen pills recalled

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Millions of acetaminophen pills recalled
Nov. 10: A pill designed to give people relief from headaches is instead causing them. NBC's Tom Costello reports.

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The batch numbers appear on the container’s label.

It wasn’t immediately clear where Perrigo made the pills. Its main factories are in the United States and Israel, with secondary plants in the United Kingdom, Mexico, Germany and China.

Perrigo has carried out at least 32 other product recalls since 1993, according to FDA records. As recently as May, it recalled nearly 59,000 bottles of a 500-milligram combination pain-reliever and sleep aid that contains acetaminophen because of contamination with acrylic mirror particles.

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A major manufacturer of acetaminophen sold by Wal-Mart, CVS, Safeway and more than 100 other retailers recalled 11 million bottles of the widely used pain-relieving pills Thursday after discovering some were contaminated with metal fragments.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or illness. The recall affects bottles containing various amounts of 500-milligram caplets made by the Perrigo Co.

The contaminated pills included metal fragments ranging in size from “microdots” to portions of wire one-third of an inch long, the Food and Drug Administration said. Perrigo discovered the metal bits during quality-control checks after realizing the equipment it uses to make pills was wearing down prematurely, the FDA said.

A company investigation turned up metal in roughly 200 pills, after passing 70 million of the caplets through a metal detector, according to the FDA.

Consumers who swallow any of the contaminated pills could suffer minor stomach discomfort or possible cuts to the mouth and throat, the FDA said, adding that the risk of serious injury was remote. Anyone who suspects they have been injured should contact a doctor, the agency said.

The FDA posted on its Web site the recalled batch numbers and the dozens of chains supplied by Perrigo, which bills itself as the world’s largest manufacturer of store-brand nonprescription drugs. The 129 retailers that could potentially be affected by the recall include Wal-Mart Stores Inc., CVS Corp., Safeway Stores and SuperValu Inc. They typically sell the Perrigo-made pills under private labels.

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