Instructions to identify the wrong tablet in opiate pain medications from Endo Pharmaceuticals

This public health advisory applies only to tablets manufactured for Endo Pharmaceuticals by Novartis Consumer Health.  Liquid and powder form medicines, and blister packaged products manufactured for Endo Pharmaceuticals by Novartis Consumer Health are not affected or included in this alert.  

Patient Instructions:

If you think you have any of the medications potentially affected , open each medicine bottle and inspect all of the tablets. 

Bring your medicine bottle to your pharmacist and do not take any of the tablets if:

• one or more tablets in your bottle look different from the others 
• there are tablets that are different in shape, color or size, or the markings are different

If you have questions about your medicine, call your pharmacist or healthcare professional, or call Endo Pharmaceuticals’ call center at 1-800-462-3636.

As for any medication, dispose of unused opiate tablets according to FDA’s recommendations. 

Dispensing Pharmacist and Healthcare Professional  Instructions:

When dispensing any of the potentially affected Endo Pharmaceutical products, you should visually inspect and verify the identity of the tablets counted out for dispensing in a separate container from the manufacturer’s bottle. This includes verification of bottles that have never been opened when the entire bottle is being dispensed. 

Patients may return to the pharmacy with their medication because of questions about tablet identity for Endo Pharmaceutical products.  Endo Pharmaceuticals has provided photographs of the potentially affected products at www.endo.com to assist you with tablet identification. There also are other pill identification resources available that may provide a means for tablet identification.