11 hours ago
BREAKING NEWS Urgent warning as prescription drug taken by tens of thousands recalled due to cancer risk
Health officials have urgently recalled a common daily pill taken by cancer survivors over fears some batches may not work.
UK medicines watchdog the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) stuck an alert on one batch of Tamoxifen 20mg tablets.
It is feared the drug may not dissolve into the bloodstream effectively after failing routine dissolution tests.
But the MHRA, which published the alert, said it had not yet received any complaints or reports of harm from patients who had taken the 30-pack tablets.
The recall only impacts one batch of the pills, manufactured by Wockhardt UK Limited, with the batch number HZ10030 and an expiry date of April 30, 2027.
Tamoxifen is a daily pill taken by around 550,000 British breast cancer survivors. It can slash their risk of recurrence after treatment by up to 45 per cent.
It's also offered to women with a strong family history of the disease, as it cuts their odds of ever developing it.
Tablets and capsules taken orally remain one of the most commonly used means of providing treatment.
Dissolution tests are commonly conducted to check the time taken for the active ingredient in a dosage form to release into the body and help predict how the drug performs inside the body.
The effectiveness of these drugs relies on the drug dissolving in the fluids of the gastrointestinal tract prior to absorption into the blood stream.
The dissolution procedure is an important test both to evaluate safety, predict efficacy and stability with respect to manufacturing and storage conditions.
The MHRA said patients should continue to take medicines as prescribed by your healthcare professional.
The recall is being actioned at the pharmacy and wholesaler level as a precautionary measure.
