More than 80,000 packs of the antidepressant Sertraline have been recalled across the UK after a patient found the wrong medication inside their sealed packaging. The patient, who had been prescribed Sertraline 100mg film-coated tablets, discovered a strip of Citalopram 40mg film-coated tablets – another antidepressant – within the carton.
UK-based pharmaceutical company Amarox initiated a “precautionary recall” of a specific batch following the discovery, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said. The agency noted that both medications are manufactured by the same company at the same facility, and the error “appears to have occurred during secondary packaging of the blister strips into the cartons”.
The MHRA advised pharmacists to stop supplying batch number V2500425 and contact any patients who may have received the affected product. The total batch size is 81,872 packs. Patients who believe they have taken Citalopram 40mg by mistake or are experiencing side effects should seek medical advice immediately.
Dr Alison Cave, the MHRA’s chief safety officer, said: “If you have been prescribed Sertraline 100mg tablets and have received batch number V2500425, please check the carton contains the right medication. If the blister strips inside are labelled Citalopram 40mg, please contact your pharmacy as soon as possible. If they are labelled Sertraline 100mg, no further action is needed.”
She added that accidental ingestion of Citalopram may cause heightened serotonergic side effects, including nausea, headache, sleep changes and mild anxiety. In 2019, more than 16.7 million prescriptions of Sertraline were issued by GPs in England.
