Teva’s generic diuretic, Furosémide 40 mg, has been withdrawn from French pharmacies, after tablets containing a strong sleeping aid (zopiclone) were found in some packages. Their unknowingly taking could result in the death of up to 6 people.
The French Agency for the Safety of Health Products (Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Médicament et des Produits de Santé, ANSM) has asked patients to return all recently purchased medicine packages.
The error most likely occurred at the packaging stage at the French Teva factory in the city of Sens. The Paris prosecutor’s office launched an investigation on Thursday to clarify all the circumstances of the fatal mistake.
The manufacturer of the drug has also started its own investigation. It includes, inter alia, supervised opening and detailed analysis of the contents of thousands of packages of Furosémid 40 mg. All drug deliveries from the Sens factory to the wholesaler were halted pending the investigation.
Source: Bloomberg
Tekst: Tomasz Kobosz