Consumer Alert: Excedrin, Bufferin Pulled From Store Shelves

Drug manufacturer Novartis Consumer Health, Inc. (NCH) has issued a voluntary recall of four of its products: Excedrin, Bufferin, Gas-X and No-Doz.

The National Public Radio health website reported that the products—made in a Lincoln, NE plant—may contain broken or chipped tablets, or "stray" tablets of a different medication. That factory has suspended production until Novartis sorts out its problems with quality control.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a press release on Jan. 8 with details on Novartis' voluntary recall, which included Excedrin and NoDoz products with expiration dates of Dec. 20, 2014 or earlier, and Bufferin and Gas-X products with expiration dates of Dec. 20, 2013 or earlier, in the United States.

store manager, Matt Peimann, said that he saw the alert message when he arrived at work Monday morning.

"We pulled it immediately," he said. "A lot of times, they'll just have us pull everything as a cautionary procedure, until we get more information, such as lot numbers."

NCH plans to gradually resume operations at its Lincoln site following implementation of planned improvements and in agreement with the FDA, according to a company statement in which quality is emphasized.

"We are committed to a single quality standard for the entire Novartis Group and we are making the necessary investments and committing the right resources to ensure these are implemented across our entire network," said Joseph Jimenez, CEO of Novartis. "The high quality of our products and operations has been critical to building the Novartis reputation over the past 15 years.

"We are committed to ensuring the highest standard for patients who rely on our products and medicines."

If you have found one of the bottles and would like to file a complaint for a refund you can do so on the company's consumer products update website.

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