Anti-Fart Med Mix-up Might Put Many at Risk

Categories: Drugs

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Farting isn't fatal -- but a recent mix-up at a factory that makes a popular antiflatulent med -- as well as common analgesics -- could be deadly.

Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant that has given the world Gas-X, NoDoz, Excedrin, and Bufferin, recalled Sunday "select bottle sizes of Excedrin and NoDoz with expiration dates of Dec. 20, 2014, or earlier and some bottle sizes of Bufferin and Gas-X with expiration dates of Dec. 20, 2013, or earlier," the Los Angeles Times reports. (For more specifics, check out Novartis' website.)

Apparently, there was a mix-up at Novartis' Lincoln, Neb., plant, so a bunch of strong painkillers -- such as Percocet, Endocet, Opana, and Zydone -- got put into these over-the-counter meds' bottles by mistake.

Novartis and Food and Drug Administration officials worry that people could accidentally take the wrong pill, and then experience an allergic reaction or overdose.

The Times also notes that the Lincoln factory had been flagged in the past for quality control problems.

No injuries have been reported. Production has been put on hold at the plant, potentially creating a shortage of certain painkillers, officials told reporters.

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sccrow
sccrow

Well, I guess that if somebody has really bad gas - at least they'll be numb for it.

Lorili
Lorili

They actually put real painkillers into the bottles of phony painkillers?  Haha. 

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