Wal-Mart Lands In Middle of Diabetic Product Recall (COV, WMT)
Covidien, Ltd. NYSE: COV) and the FDA have notified patients and healthcare professionals of a product recall which has been sold to diabetics. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) gets to find itself at yet another controversy, yet it isn’t really Wal-Mart’s fault on the surface.
This recall is covering the ReliOn sterile, single-use, disposable, hypodermic syringes with permanently affixed hypodermic needles used by insulin-dependent diabetes. These syringes were sold only by Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club pharmacies under the ReliOn name.
The mislabeled syringe may result in patients receiving an overdose of as much as 2.5 times the intended dose, with serious health consequences, low blood sugar, and even death. The recall applies only to lot number 813900. The product was distributed from Aug. 1, 2008 until Oct. 8, 2008, and includes 471,000 individual syringes in 4,710 boxes.
If you need to read more, here is the official notice.
Jon C. Ogg
November 6, 2008