More lots of birth control pill recalled

Pharmaceutical giant Apotex is recalling more lots of a birth control pill which may put women at risk of becoming pregnant because of faulty packaging.

The company found packs of Alysena 28 bearing the number LF01899A had too little of the active drug and too much placebo.

They have now added the following lots to the recall as a precaution:
LF01901A     LF01980A     LF02037A
LF01900A     LF01982A     LF02036A
LF01898A     LF01981A     LF02026A
LF01894B     LF01979A

Women who may have taken birth control pills from the packs should use backup contraception until the problem is sorted out, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada suggested Wednesday.

The organization’s CEO Dr. Jennifer Blake also advised women to take a pregnancy test if they’ve missed a period.

Women using birth control pills take the drugs for 21 days each menstrual cycle. Because they might not remember to start taking their pills again at the right time, many are packaged with a pill for each of the 28 days in a cycle — 21 are drug and seven are placebos.

Blister packs in the faulty lot had 14 pink pills containing active drug and 14 white placebos. That seven-day difference could be enough to result in a pregnancy, Blake said in an interview.

Some women may not know they were taking the contraceptive, which is a generic version of the most popular birth control pill used in Canada, Alesse. (Alesse is not involved in this recall.)

Visit the Health Canada website for more information.

With files from The Canadian Press