Hydromorphone Recall Issued Due to Overdose Risk

For the third time this year, Hospira, Inc. has announced a drug recall due to its carpuject syringe cartridges being overfilled. 

Last week a Hospira Hydromorphone recall was issued, after a report indicated that a 2.5 mL Carpuject glass cartridge contained more than the 1 mL of the powerful painkiller on the label.

An hydromorphone overdose could result from receiving too much of the drug, which could result in serious and potentially life-threatening injury.

Hydromorphone is an opioid painkiller similar to morphine and OxyContin. An overdose could cause respiratory depression, low blood pressure and a reduced heart rate. There have been no injuries associated with the recalled hydromorphone cartridges.

The recall affects lot number 12720LL of Hospira Hydromorphone injection, USP, 2 mg/mL (C-II), 1 mL fill in 2.5 mL Carpuject™, NDC 0409-1312-30. It comes in a prefilled glass cartridge that is meant to be used with the Carpuject Syringe system. The affected cartridges have an expiration date of December 1, 2013 and were distributed between March and May 2012.

The company has had to issue recalls three times this year for similar problems. The first was a morphine recall in mid-April, after reports of overfilled Carpuject syringes. In May, another lot of hydromorphone was recalled for the exact same reason.

In the latest recall announcement, Hospira indicates that it has determined the cause of the overfills and “has put into place measures to prevent recurrence.”

The company recommends that anyone with the recalled cartridges in their inventory should stop using and distributing the drugs and quarantine the product immediately.

Customers can contact Stericycle at (866) 873-0312 to make arrangements to return affected drugs, which will be replaced by cartridges from another lot. Customers with questions can contact Hospira Medical Communications at (800) 615-0187.