Nurofen Plus recall -- tablets switched with Seroquel

[julesjones]

In case any of my flist who could be affected haven't seen this yet -- all packs of Nurofen Plus in the UK [update: and the Republic of Ireland] are now subject to recall because several packs have had the contents switched for the psychiatric drug Seroquel. There is a new report as of last night that one pack has been switched for the epilepsy drug Neurontin.

An accidental dose of Seroquel isn't likely to do anything to a healthy adult other than make them incredibly sleepy, but given how many of my flist take medications[*] which could have a dangerous interaction with a surprise 50mg dose (including people already on Seroquel), I'd advise checking the MHRA batch recall alert and full recall alert and/or the BBC update about further sabotaged packs being found. All pack sizes and batches are now suspect.

[*Patient leaflet explicitly mentions other psychiatric drugs, and drugs for epilepsy, infection control, high blood pressure, TB. The BBC report also refers to the sedative effect interacting with anti-histamines and other sedatives.]

Comments

[lexin]

Thanks for this. [Goes to check cupboard for Nurofen.]

[julesjones]

The four packs with Seroquel found so far were all in London, the epilepsy drug was found in Northern Ireland. Looking at the reports, the tampering found so far has been substitution of blister strips rather than of the tablets within the blisters, so it should be easy to spot by looking at the labelling on the blister strip. But they're saying take it back regardless.

[lexin]

Not only does my one pack of Nurofen have a blister pack labelled 'Nurofen', it's a tad late as I'd already taken one from the pack. Though heaven knows when as ibuprofen is not my painkiller of choice.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

I have no idea what Neurofen's for (it sounds like an NSAID), but Neurontin (generic name gabapentin) is prescribed for a whole range of ailments, including chronic pain and Restless Leg Syndrome (which is what I take it for), and as part of a treatment regime for Multiple Sclerosis. It's a rather odd drug, apparently the only one in its class, in that it has so many beneficial effects for so many different conditions.

[julesjones]

Nurofen is a brand name for ibuprofen. Nurofen Plus is ibuprofen in combination with non-prescription strength codeine (it's legal to buy low strength codeine without a prescription in the UK in combination with NSAIDs, although it has to be dispensed by a pharmacist). Non-prescription codeine/ibuprofen is extremely popular in the UK for certain types of pain -- for example, I use codeine/aspirin rather than the ibuprofen version, but I find it very effective for migraine.

I'd never heard of Neurontin so was simply quoting the BBC website. Interesting range of indicated illnesses -- it sounds as if it's effective across a broad range of disorders of nervous tissue.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

Sigh, just another example of how phobic Americans are about pain relief. So much saner to make a non-acetaminophen (paracetamol, really rough on the liver) combo for moderate pain readily available.