Health Canada is advising Canadians that Novartis Consumer Health Inc’s U.S. recall has now been extended to Canada. According to Novartis Consumer Health Canada Inc, the Canadian recall includes all lots (expiration dates of Dec. 20, 2014 and earlier) for over-the-counter products, Excedrin Extra Strength Caplets and Excedrin Tension Headache Caplets.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, reports were received in the U.S. of chipped and broken pills and inconsistent bottle packaging clearance practices, which could result in the bottles containing foreign tablets, caplets or capsules. The FDA has informed consumers that the mixing of different products in the same bottle could result in consumers taking the incorrect product and receiving a higher or lower strength than intended or receiving an unintended ingredient. This could potentially result in overdose, interaction with other medications a consumer may be taking, or an allergic reaction if the consumer is allergic to the unintended ingredient.
Health Canada said it is monitoring the voluntary recall by Novartis Consumer Health Canada. Should additional information be identified, Health Canada will take appropriate action and inform Canadians.
Health Canada suggests Canadians who have concerns about these products consult with their health-care practitioner. For information concerning the recall or how to return the affected product, consumers should directly contact Novartis Consumer Health Canada Inc’s consumer relationship centre at 1-888-788-8181.
To report suspected adverse reaction to these or other health products, contact the Canada Vigilance Program of Health Canada toll-free at 1-866-234-2345 or visit their website at www.healthcanada.gc.ca.
Pedestrians wearing headphones while walking near traffic are putting themselves at risk. The United States has seen a tripling of injuries and deaths in the last six years from crashes with trains and motor vehicles where the victim was wearing headphones.
In the Jan. 16 online issue of the journal Injury Prevention, a review panel found that the majority of incidents involved males under the age of 30 and occurred in urban counties. More than half of the crashes were with trains, not motor vehicles, and many of them sounded their horns before the crash, which the victim most likely did not hear because they were wearing headphones.
The authors said they carried out the research because, while a lot is known about the risk of cellphone use, very little is known about the risk posed by using headphones while walking near traffic.
“As a pediatric emergency physician and someone interested in safety and prevention I saw this as an opportunity to — at a minimum — alert parents of teens and young adults of the potential risk of wearing headphones where moving vehicles are present,” said the review’s lead author Dr. Richard Lichenstein, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and director of pediatric emergency medicine research at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.
Lichenstein said he wanted to do the study after reviewing the tragic case of a local teenager who died crossing a railroad track. It was alleged the boy had been wearing headphones and did not hear the train coming, despite its warning sounds.
For their review, Lichenstein and his colleagues searched a number of sources to find reports published between 2004 and 2011 of crashes between pedestrians and motor vehicles or trains where pedestrian use of headphones was mentioned.
They found 116 reports of death or injury of pedestrians wearing headphones. Of those, 68 per cent of the victims were male, 67 per cent were under the age of 30, 55 per cent of the vehicles involved were trains and nearly three-quarters of the reports mentioned that the victim was wearing headphones at the time of the crash.
