December 21, 2010 (New York, New York) — Pfizer announced the recall of another lot--approximately 19 000 bottles--of atorvastatin (Lipitor) 40-mg tablets from the US market due to reports of the same "uncharacteristic odor" that prompted the recall of 191 000 bottles of Lipitor earlier this year [1]. The recalled lot is 0836050.
The company says that a medical assessment concluded that the risk of health consequences from taking drugs from this lot are minimal, but it is advising patients who have tablets from the recalled lot to return them to their pharmacist in exchange for a new bottle. Pfizer does not anticipate a shortage resulting from the recall.
After the first recall, the company found the odor was most likely coming from very low levels of tribromoanisole in the pill bottles supplied by an outside vendor. Tribromoanisole comes from a wood preservative used in pallets to transport and ship a variety of products. Pfizer prohibits its suppliers from using tribromoanisole-treated pallets to ship its products.
This is the fourth recall of this product for "odor" reasons.
