If you've ever experienced the shock and fear of learning that your medication has been recalled, then you might have panicked.
Medication is often recalled because it has a defect. In the worst situations, the defect includes substances that are harmful when ingested.
In 2019, the FDA found a carcinogen in Zantac and a major recall ensued. Countless drug recalls happen every year, so there's a good chance that you might be affected by one soon.
If this happens, you'll want to know how to proceed. There are a few major mistakes that you'll want to avoid making with a recalled prescription.
To help you deal with this uncertain situation, we'll look at what you should do with a recalled prescription below.
Keep Taking the Medication
Arguably the most important thing you can do is to keep taking the medication.
This may seem counterintuitive because recalled medication is often defective, but that doesn't mean you should quit cold turkey. It can be more harmful to stop taking a recalled prescription than it is to continue it.
The reason for this is because your body is acclimated to the regular intake of a medication. Your body expects the medication for regular function and can have an adverse reaction if it were to suddenly stop.
It's similar to why someone who has a problem with drugs will experience withdrawal when they stop. You can quickly enter withdrawal upon abruptly stopping any prescriptions, so you should never suddenly stop.
This is particularly important for medications that deal with blood pressure. Your blood pressure can spike after stopping your medication, which can lead to complications like a heart attack.
Chances are, you probably will stop taking the prescription at some point. It will likely include a process of tapering off of it, which will gradually reduce how much of it is in your body.
Until you get professional confirmation, don't stop taking a recalled medication.
See If Your Batch Is Affected
One of the reasons why you don't want to stop taking your medication is because your batch might not even be affected. Considering this, the next step is checking to see if your batch is included in the recall.
Medication recalls vary in reasoning, but the underlying theme is that something is wrong. If a prescription is found to have carcinogens in it, then the question of whether the recipe is faulty or if contamination occurred arises.
This is an important distinction because it illustrates whether the medication defect was a one-time occurrence or a foundational flaw. If it's a one-time occurrence because of contamination, then only specific batches of the medication will be impacted.
Because of this, you'll want to know if your prescription is included in that batch. If it isn't, then you likely aren't at any risk for harm. Regardless of whether it is affected, it's still a good idea to keep proceeding with the steps below.
Consult Your Doctor or Pharmacist
Aside from continuing to take your medication, the other vital step is to consult your doctor and/or pharmacist.
With anything that concerns your health, you should always be checking with your doctor first. Changing or stopping your medication certainly affects your health, so this is something that you'll want to address with them.
Furthermore, your doctor will be able to determine how this will affect your life and if adjustment is needed. They can give you the confirmation to stop taking the prescription or start tapering off of it.
You could also check with your pharmacist. They'll have a better idea as to what prescriptions are affected and the batches that are included. This will also make it easier to find out if your batch is affected.
The point here is that you want to check in with a medical professional. They'll have the sharpest opinion as to how a medication recall impacts you, which will ensure that you take the right course of action for your well being.
Find a Viable Substitute
Up next is to find a viable substitute for the recalled medication.
If a medication is foundationally flawed, then it will likely never be safe for consumption. This usually means that the prescription's formula is harmful.
Should this be the type of recall that you're dealing with, then you will end up stopping your medication. Again, don't do this cold turkey and without your doctor's consent.
Instead, your doctor will likely tell you that a substitute is needed. They'll also know what prescriptions serve as a good replacement and what might suit your body best.
This begins the process of easing into a new medication. As you may know, this is not always an easy process and the results of your new prescription might not be the same.
With this in mind, you'll want to start the switch as soon as possible so you find the right replacement sooner.
Dispose of the Recalled Prescription
Lastly, you'll want to dispose of the recalled medication.
If you've discovered that your medication is bad, then there's no reason to keep it. Holding onto it poses a hazard because you or a family member might accidentally take it thinking that it's okay.
You don't want to leave any potential for the medication to be ingested, so it must be thrown away. The best way of handling this is by taking it to your pharmacist if they accept recalled prescriptions.
Unfortunately, this isn't always an option so you'll need a backup plan. For this, you can throw them in the trash.
However, you'll want to mix the medication with something like cat litter, sand, or ground coffee first and seal it in a bag. This will make the prescription unusable while keeping it isolated from other trash.
Regardless of how you get rid of it, the last step is to toss your recalled prescription.
Closing Thoughts
Medication recalls affect millions of people every year and there's a good chance that one might impact you. This is what happens when medication is defective, for one reason or another.
If you take medication that is recalled, you'll probably have no idea what to do. Because of this, you'll want to be prepared beforehand so that you don't make a potentially dangerous mistake.
A few things you should do include continuing to take the prescription until told to stop by a medical professional, checking if your batch is affected, consulting your doctor and/or pharmacist, finding a viable substitute, and disposing of the recalled medication.
While a medication recall may seem overwhelming and give you the sense that you're in danger, most recalls are not a big deal. Just be sure to follow the steps above for peace of mind that your prescription isn't negatively affecting you!
