Britons have been urged to check their painkillers after batches of prescription paracetamol were recalled due to contamination fears.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued a notice after a small number of pills were found to be “discoloured”.
The medicine affected is two batches of 500mg paracetamol tablets from Chelonia Healthcare Limited.
This issue has been identified in batch 2312010, however as a precautionary measure, batch 2312011 is also being recalled to mitigate any risk while the investigation and analysis remain ongoing.
The affected pills have the expiry date of November 2027 and were distributed earlier this year.
The MHRA warned healthcare professionals to “stop supplying the above batches immediately” and quarantine all remaining stock before returning it to their supplier.
It told patients: “Patients or carers should check to see if they have received tablets from the listed batches of paracetamol 500mg tablets.
“The batch number can be found on the label of the medicine bottle and on the outer carton.
“These tablets can only be obtained from a pharmacy with a prescription. The number of tablets you will have been given will vary depending on your prescription and you may have only received a small number of tablets.
“The tablets should be ‘white capsule-shaped tablets, scored on one side’, as per the patient information leaflet. If you find tablets that are discoloured in any way, in pots from the listed batches, please contact your pharmacist or the healthcare professional who dispensed your prescription.”
Patients who may have taken the medication and experienced an "adverse reaction" are also urged to seek medical attention and report their symptoms via the MHRA Yellow Card scheme.
