FDA Warns Public About Stolen Levemir Insulin
Novo Nordisk product previously reported as stolen in North Carolina has resurfaced recently at a medical center in Houston.
Originally posted June 16, 2009
FDA notified patients and healthcare professionals that some stolen vials of the long-acting insulin Levemir made by Novo Nordisk Inc. are
being sold in the U.S. market, may not have been stored and handled
properly, and may be dangerous for patients to use. The agency is
advising patients who use Levemir insulin to:
Levemir insulin from one of the following lots: XZF0036, XZF0037, and
XZF0038.
Do not use your Levemir insulin if it is from one of these lots.
Contact the Novo Nordisk Customer Care Center at 1-800-727-6500 for
what to do with vials from these lots or if you have any other
questions.
Tom Kubic, president of PSI
and officer of PSM, noted that “it’s been over four months since the
original theft in February 2009. So who knows where or how these
stolen
medicines were stored while they made
their way from North Carolina to the Houston medical facility. But one
thing is certain, they weren’t handled the way Novo Nordisk would have
maintained them.”
Patients and caregivers with concerns should directly contact the Novo Nordisk Customer Care Center at
1-800-727-6500.If pharmacies and wholesalers have vials with these lot numbers in stock, please do not further distribute or dispense the Levemir. In addition, you are urged to contact FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations at 1-800-551-3989 or on their website if you have any vials with the affected lot numbers in stock, or if any of these vials are returned by patients. Please retain these vials and do not dispose of any of them. Additional information is available at Novo Nordisk at 1-800-727-6500.
If pharmacies are able determine if Levemir insulin vials with these lot numbers were dispensed to patients, please contact those patients and ask them to return the vials to the pharmacy.