UK'S MHRA FINDS NEW BATCH OF COUNTERFEIT LIPITOR

The UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Pfizer have issued a recall of Lipitor 20-mg tablets bearing the lot number 067404K3 for being counterfeit. The agency had already recalled a batch of counterfeit Lipitor (lot number 004405K1) last year and reissued this safety warning on July 19 after more packets from this batch were found.

The newly recalled lot number had been used for genuine Pfizer material distributed until December 2004, but recently supplied tablets bearing that lot number are likely to be counterfeit and not supplied by the manufacturer.

Patients who have Lipitor 20-mg tablets with either lot number have been asked to stop taking the drug and contact their pharmacist. Initial results of analysis of the counterfeit drugs indicate that this material is similar to that found in previous cases, and there is no evidence of an immediate risk to patients.