Pfizer Recalls Over 1 Million Packets of Birth Control Pills

Women taking certain birth control pills may have a reason to worry over the very thing their birth control medication is supposed to prevent: unintended pregnancy. Pfizer has issued a voluntary recall of over 1 million packets of birth control pills because packaging errors could lead to women taking an inadequate dose.

The recall includes 14 lots of Lo/Ovral-28 tablets and 14 lots of generic Norgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol tablets. Both products are manufactured by Pfizer, but are marketed under the Akirmax Pharmaceuticals brand. The affected packets have expiration dates ranging between July 31, 2012 and March 31, 2014.

Pfizer found that the affected lots contain either too many active tablets or have too few. Since oral birth control products follow a strict regimen of 21 days of active drug tablets followed by seven days of inactive sugar tablets, any disruption to this schedule can increase the likelihood of unintended pregnancy. Pfizer says that there is no safety risk associated with the recalled packets.

Lot numbers of affected packs can be found on the Food and Drug Administration’s recall page. You can also check our firm’s website for other recent drug recalls and warnings.