Kotex has issued a voluntary recall of a particular type of tampons sold in the US and Canada after they began to unravel inside people.
Kimberly-Clark, the makers of Kotex, announced the recall in a press release Tuesday, in which it said regular absorbency U by Kotex Sleek Tampons have a “quality-related defect.”
According to the company’s statement, the recall comes after customers noticed the tampons “unravelling and/or coming apart upon removal, and in some cases causing users to seek medical attention to remove tampon pieces left in the body.”
The company also said there has been a “small number” of reports of infections, vaginal irritation and injury associated with the product.
The recall is currently limited to tampons manufactured between October 7 2016 and October 16 2018 and distributed between October 17 2016 and October 23 2018, with stores urged to remove the faulty products from shelves.
To identify whether a package is impacted, customers can look for specific lot numbers on the bottom of the box, which can be found here.
Currently, no other product by Kotex is subjected to a recall, according to the company, which urged any users who experience “vaginal injury, vaginal irritation, urogenital infections, or other symptoms such as hot flashes, abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting following the use of the product” to “seek immediate medical attention.”
According to Jennifer Wider, MD, the issue has the potential to be harmful - as she told Yahoo: “pieces left behind can cause irritation, inflammation, swelling and infection” and “women can also injure themselves trying to get it out.”
“It’s not a good situation,” she said.
Kimberly-Clark previously issued a recall for its Natural Balance unscented tampons after bacteria capable of causing urinary tract infections, pelvic inflammatory disease, and potentially life-threatening vaginal infections was found in the applicators.
