Call the Arizona Poison & Drug Information Center about potential problems with opiates from Endo Pharmaceuticals

Healthcare professionals and patients who have questions about a potential problem with opiate products manufactured and packaged for Endo Pharmaceuticals may call the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center for help identifying affected products.

Keith Boesen, director of the center, which is housed in the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, cites a public health advisory from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about opiate products manufactured and packaged for Endo Pharmaceuticals by Novartis Consumer Health at its Lincoln, Nebraska, manufacturing site. Opiates are potent medications used to alleviate pain and are available only by prescription.

According to the advisory, due to problems that occurred when these products were packaged and labeled at the Lincoln site, tablets from one product type may have carried over into the packaging of another product. This could result in a stray pill of one medication ending up in the bottle of another product. The likelihood of this occurring in medication dispensed to patients is estimated to be low.

“There are steps that patients and healthcare professionals can take if they suspect they have an affected product,” says Boesen. “One of the simplest is to call the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center at 1-800-222-1222. Each pill in your bottle of medication is imprinted with an identifying code. The specially trained pharmacists who answer the phones at our poison center can tell you exactly what kind of medication you have by these imprint codes.”

For additional information, see the FDA Public Health Advisory on Certain Opiate Products Made for Endo Pharmaceuticals.