Novartis recalls Excedrin, NoDoz, Gas-X and Bufferin

Excedrin

(CBS/AP) Novartis is recalling some popular over-the-counter drugs over concerns about broken or incorrect tablets winding up in pill bottles. Excedrin, NoDoz, Bufferin and Gas-X are the drugs in question.

Novartis had recently decided to temporarily suspend production at its Lincoln, Neb. Plant for "maintenance and other improvement activities."

The Swiss drug maker is working with the Food and Drug Administration during its voluntary recall, which affects U.S. retailers. Novartis became aware of the potential problem during an internal review that revealed broken and chipped pills, and inconsistent bottle packaging (which could have caused the mix-up). The company said it wanted to make sure that customers didn't take any pills that they might be allergic to or that might become dangerous when mixed with other medications. But Novartis also said there have been no complaints from consumers themselves.

Some bottles of headache medicine Excedrin and caffeine caplets NoDoz with expiration dates of Dec. 20, 2014 or earlier will be subject to recall. And some packages of pain medicine Bufferin and stomach medicine Gas-X with expiration dates of Dec. 20, 2013 or earlier will be affected.

Consumers should visit www.novartisOTC.com for a full list of recalled products, and they can also call the company at 1-888-477-2403 Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST for more information.

[caljack430]

kudos to the company for catching the slip-up and taking care of it. i used to work in quality assurance at a small pharmaceutical company. I know just how difficult and tedious those audits can be, so I'm happy to see that they are taking responsibility for a mistake/error!

[Jesse_engAmer]

Before you give kudos to the company they didn't exactly "catch" it. They ignored it for years.

Novartis shut down the plant roughly a month ago. There were 166 complaints of foreign tablets in medications since 2009. FDA inspection revealed many more complaints that weren't even filed. Other complaints include 233 critical complaints that weren't investigated properly. The 438 page report by the FDA makes note of this. The FDA should've jumped on this sooner and ordered recalls.more so.

Here's a link to my source if you're interested: http://******/A3HkiE
Here is a link to the FDA's report as well: http://1.usa.gov/wVGZnj