Advertisement

Birth control pill Esme-28 recalled as a precaution

TORONTO – A Canadian pharmaceutical company has recalled the Esme-28 birth control pill after its Aug. 27 recall of the Freya-28 pill.

The Freya-28 oral contraceptive was removed from the Canadian market after one package was discovered to contain a placebo (green) pill in place of an active (pink) pill.

Mylan Pharmaceuticals hasn’t been able to rule out the possibility that Esme-28 may also have placebos in place of active pills, and so the company is expanding the recall as a precaution, though no packaging errors had been identified as of Aug. 24.

The latest health and medical news emailed to you every Sunday.

“Missing one or more active (pink) pills could result in reduced effectiveness for contraception, with the possibility of an unplanned pregnancy,” explained the release from Health Canada.

Health Canada is advising Canadians who have purchased or used Esme-28 to use another method of birth control such as condoms, return unopened packages to the pharmacy, and report any adverse reactions that could be linked to Esme-28 to Health Canada.

Story continues below advertisement

Consumers using Esme-21 packages are not at risk, as that product only has 21 active pills.

Contact Health Canada at 1-800-267-9675.

Sponsored content

AdChoices