Urgent FDA Recall Due to Drug Mis-Labeling

The FDA has issued an urgent drug recall.

Here's what happened.

New Jersey-based Unichem Pharmaceuticals issued the recall after discovering that a shipment of a prescription-only drug was mistakenly labeled and shipped as another prescription-only drug.  Specifically, Meloxicam was shipped out labeled as Cyclobenzaprine.

Ok, but I have no idea what either of those are for.

The two drugs are used to treat very different conditions.

Cyclobenzaprine is a muscle relaxant, used along with physical therapy to address muscle spasms and related problems.

Meloxicam is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and is used to treat multiple forms of arthritis.

In addition to the problems you can imagine occur when you take the wrong medication for something, taking Meloxicam can potentially cause issues with someone's heart, stomach and intestines, kidneys, and even allergic reactions.

So what do I do?

If you don't take either drug, you don't have anything to worry about.

If you do take Cyclobenzaprine to treat muscle spasms, double check the pill's appearance against the photos up above.  If you're still concerned, talk to your pharmacist.

So far, no reports of anyone getting sick from this have been reported, thankfully.

Pharmacies across the country have already been notified about this recall and are checking their supplies to see if they had received and distributed the mis-labeled pills to consumers.  If they have, they will contact everyone who received them and inform them what to do with the pills.  Again, if you're still concerned, talk to your pharmacist.