RELATED: If You Take This Medication, Stop Now, FDA Says. On Aug. 16, the FDA announced that Pfizer had voluntarily recalled four lots of Chantix, a medication used to help patients quit smoking. The medications affected by the recall include 56-count bottles of Chantix 0.5 mg tablets, 56-count bottles of Chantix 1 mg tablets, and cardboard boxes containing blister packs of 0.5 mg Chantix tablets and 1 mg Chantix tablets. Photos of the newly recalled medications, which were distributed within the U.S. and Puerto Rico between June 2019 and June 2021, can be found on the FDA website. For the latest recall news delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. This isn’t the first time that Chantix has been subject to a recall in recent months. On July 19, the FDA announced that Pfizer had recalled two lots of Chantix 0.5 mg tablets, two lots of Chantix 1 mg tablets, and eight lots of packaging that included a combination of Chantix 0.5 mg and 1 mg tablets. The full list of lot numbers, expiration dates, and NDC numbers for the prescriptions recalled in July can be found on the FDA website. According to the recall notice, the medication is being recalled due to the presence of N-nitroso-varenicline, a type of nitrosamine, that exceeds the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) threshold dictated by Pfizer. “Long-term ingestion of N-nitroso-varenicline may be associated with a theoretical potential increased cancer risk in humans, but there is no immediate risk to patients taking this medication,” the recall notice states. The Chantix recall in July was related to the same potential contamination concerns. If you take Chantix, talk to your doctor as soon as possible to determine whether your medication is affected by the recall. However, the recall notice explains that continuing Chantix treatment may still be on the table for some patients. “The health benefits of stopping smoking outweigh the theoretical potential cancer risk from the nitrosamine impurity in varenicline,” according to the recall notice.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb That said, Pfizer is recommending that any wholesalers or distributors of Chantix with the recalled medications in their possession stop distributing the medication and quarantine the product to prevent future patient access. If your medication is subject to recall, you can call Stericycle Inc. at 888-276-6166 on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to find out how to appropriately return the medication and how you can go about seeking a refund. RELATED: If You Bought These Supplements, Stop Using Them Immediately, FDA Says.
