The FDA (Federal Drug Administration) recently issued a voluntary recall for certain lot numbers of the injectable EpiPen® and EpiPen Jr. This is due to a possible problem with the injector itself.
EpiPen® contains epinephrine, a drug used to treat severe allergic reactions. In a couple of cases outside the United States, the injector failed “due to a potential defect in a supplier component,” according to the FDA.
The affected lots were distributed between December 17, 2015 and July 1, 2016. Not all lots are affected, and you don’t need to replace any EpiPens that aren’t on this list.
If you do have an EpiPen® on this list, don’t get rid of it until you have obtained a replacement. Any time you use an EpiPen®, you should seek emergency medical help right away, especially if it did not activate.
Mylan, the company that distributes EpiPen®, has this information on its website (from the manufacturer Meridian):
If you think you may be impacted by this recall, please follow these steps:
STEP 1: Check the lot number on your carton or device to see if your EpiPen® Auto-Injector is affected by the recall.
STEP 2: If your EpiPen® Auto-Injector has been recalled, contact Stericycle at 877-650-3494 to obtain a voucher code for your free replacement product. Stericycle also will provide you with a pre-paid return package to ship the product back to Stericycle.
STEP 3: Visit your pharmacy with your voucher information to redeem your free replacement.
STEP 4: Send your recalled product to Stericycle. Do not return any devices affected by the recall until you have your replacement in hand.
Contact your pharmacist if you have questions, or if you’re unsure if your current EpiPen® is on the recall list.