What Should You Do If a Medication You Take Is Recalled?
| April 8th, 2019
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) frequently reviews safety data concerning all types of medication. When it finds results that indicate certain medications may pose dangers to patients, it may recommend that the manufacturers of those medications recall their products from pharmacy and hospital shelves. However, recalls don’t always happen, and even when they do, recalled medications may still be distributed to patients or remain in patients’ medicine cabinets. You can stay up to date on medication recalls by checking the FDA’s safety alert page. The page includes a search function, allowing you to find out if a medication you’re currently taking or were just prescribed is subject to a recall. If so, it’s important to take the following steps:- Determine if your medication is part of the recall—Make sure the brand name and manufacturer of the recalled medication match the brand name and manufacturer of the medication you’re taking. In some cases, even that doesn’t mean your medication has been recalled, as certain batches of medications may be subject to recalls, while other batches aren’t.
- Don’t stop taking your medication without talking to your doctor—Although some recalls are due to serious defects that can pose threats to patients, many are due to minor errors such as improper labeling. In addition, it may be more dangerous for you to stop taking your medication than to continue taking it, even if it’s linked to health problems.
