On Wednesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced
they asked Teva Pharmaceuticals to
withdraw their medication, Budeprion XL300.
To Teva Pharmaceutical’s credit, they responded quickly, halting all
shipments of the generic drugs.
After months of
testing, the FDA confirmed in its studies that Budeprion XL300, generic for
Wellbutrin 300, did not properly release its active ingredient. This represents
an about face for regulators after insistence that the drug was safe as taken.
However, consumer complaints continued to pile up, so the FDA did an
independent study of their own.
The FDA has made
the case for years that generic drugs are safe and the equivalent of the
pricier brand names. And last year
alone, 80% of American prescriptions were generic drugs. It’s rare that the FDA
will recall a generic drug, but this represents the first time that consumer
complaints forced regulators to do an about face.
Consumers
maintain multiple health problems associated with Budeprion, but so far the FDA
has yet to validate these complaints. If
you’ve had problems with a generic drug, or even Budeprion, contact an attorney
to discuss your options.
