If you or a family member take thyroid medication, it's a good idea to check exactly what brand you have in your medicine cabinet.
On August 9, the FDA issued a voluntary nationwide recall of one particular thyroid medication over risks of "adulteration."
This isn't the first time in the last few months that the FDA has had to pull back popular medicines.
Last month, the FDA recalled pills for heart failure and high blood pressure from three companies: Major Pharmaceuticals, Solco Healthcare, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Inc.
The FDA says the three companies recalled their pills because of a cancer-causing defect found in the active ingredient valsartan.
Now the FDA is warning about the potential risk of 37 unexpired lots of Levothyroxine (LT4) and Liothyronine (LT3) 15 mg, 30 mg, 60 mg, 90 mg, and 120 mg thyroid tablets.
These batches of medicine are being recalled by Westminster Pharmaceuticals after one of its Chinese suppliers failed a US Food and Drug Administration inspection.
According to CNN, the company is reaching out to all wholesale customers to ask them to stop filling prescriptions with the affected medication.
"While we stand behind the quality of our product, we are taking the utmost precaution by recalling our Thyroid, USP Tablets only to the wholesale level due to a recent inspection by the FDA at one of our active ingredient manufacturers," Westminster Pharmaceuticals owner and CEO Gajan Mahendiran said in a statement.
What you should do if you're taking this medication:
As of now, no adverse effects from these medications have been reported.
In the meantime, the FDA recommends people taking this pill to continue to do so until they speak to their doctor or pharmacist.
"Because these products may be used in the treatment of serious medical conditions, patients taking the recalled medicines should continue taking their medicine until they have a replacement product," the recall announcement states.
For a full list of impacted products, visit FDA.gov.
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[H/T: CNN]
