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Tainted Generic Drugs Recalled

By Jeralyn

I've never fully trusted generic drugs. I know they are supposed to be the same as the real deal, but there are some that just don't seem the same to me.

In the wake of Michael Jackson's death, comes this news about diprivan, a generic form of propofol, one of the drugs he may have taken:

Two tainted lots of a generic version of a drug reportedly taken by Michael Jackson have been recalled by the drug maker.... The CDC issued a health advisory Monday, saying two lots of a generic version of the drug had tested positive for endotoxin, a contaminant. The drug maker, Teva Pharmaceuticals, voluntarily recalled the lots.

Srinivasan said the agency received 40 reports of patients around the country developing high fevers and muscle aches after being injected with the drug.

So if someone famous hadn't died while taking the drug, would we ever have found out and would there have been a recall? (Note, the article says no link has been established between Jackson's death and the tainted drug. But that's not my point.) Have there been other instances of generic drugs being tainted or recalled? [More...]

The discovery doesn't sound like a coincidence:

"I can say the DEA did contact us about a specific lot number, and that lot number is not from the two we are recalling," said spokeswoman Denise Bradley.She would not say whether the contact was related to the Jackson investigation.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on July 15, 2009 (boomark / email).