Pfizer is recalling a lot of 19,000 bottles of the blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor, citing a consumer complaint about an “uncharacteristic” odor.
The latest announcement marks the fourth such recall since August over similar issues. Pfizer says the bottles were supplied by an outside manufacturer, though it did not identify the party. It also says health consequences appear to be minimal.
The New York company made changes in August in a move to fix the problem and said the lot currently being recalled was shipped before those changes were made. Additional recalls may be necessary for other batches of Lipitor in bottles made by the supplier that were shipped before August.
After Pfizer’s patent is up, they have signed a contract with an Indian
drug manufactuer to produce the brand name product in o5rder to compete
with future generics. Perhaps they jumped the gun in the drugs source.