'Urgent' Birth Control Recall After Extra Placebos Discovered in Packages

We won't have a difficult time predicting when and where the next baby boom happens - a Canadian birth control company has already done all the hard work for us. Birth control pill manufacturer Apotex finally announced an "urgent recall" of its Alysena-28 brand this week over concerns that 50,000 packages of the drug may have contained two weeks of placebo sugar pills. The recall wasn't announced until a full five days after the mistake was first discovered by Apotex.

A typical month-long supply of the birth control pills includes one week's worth of placebo sugar pills and three weeks of birth control pills. Worried about the impending public outrage, Apotex upgraded the recall to Type I status Tuesday, which forces retailers selling the drug to contact women who bought the pills. Type I recalls are generally brought about by "a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure to, a product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death," according to Health Canada.

Apotex has reportedly notified the drug wholesalers and retail stores but has not directly contacted customers. The company initially announced that the recall was voluntary, and mentioned the recall for the first time on its website Tuesday.

"Ingestion of only 14 tablets of active instead of intended 21 of oral contraceptive would most likely result in reduced efficacy for contraception and therefore possibility of unplanned pregnancy cannot be ruled out," Apotex said in its first recall notice last week.

As news of the recall has spread, women all over Canada are understandably distressed with Apotex's delayed response, voicing their frustration over social media. "In Canada, taking the pill is like playing Russian roulette, especially with Alysena-28," said user Mademoiselle Titam on Twitter.

"I looked at it and said, 'there could be unwanted pregnancies out there," London Drugs vice-president John Tse dispassionately told the CBC. "We felt it was important to let the patient know so there can be a judgment call from the patient."

Tse said Apotex is doing its part to reach out to customers, and has contacted 350 people. He added that the company is currently providing free pregnancy tests and morning after pills for anyone taking Alysena-28.