An urgent recall has been issued for a common inhaler used by people with severe asthma.
The British drug regulator, the MHRA, has said that the flutiform 250 microgram inhaler must be sent back to pharmacies.
An error on the labeling means that patients can be informed about the wrong dose of the drug.
Patients are advised to continue to take the medicine as advised by their doctor and not to return or stop taking the product.
In a statement on the MHRA website, they said: ‘This is a recall of wholesaler and pharmacy level that will be carried out by a health care professional. There is no quality problem with the product and patients can continue to take their medicine as prescribed. ‘
The watchdog was informed by the manufacturer CD Pharma Limited of the problem.
They said: ‘An error on the outer box of the product for the batches stated in this report. Although the total active content statement is correct, the delivered dose content statement is incorrect. The other details on the box are correct. ‘
The error means that patients may have thought that they only received half the necessary dose of the medication.
The asthma of the respiratory condition affects around 7.2 million people in the UK, and asthma attacks kill three people in Britain every day on average.
It influences the airways, or breathing pipes, that carry air in and out of the lungs, which makes them inflamed.
This makes the airways narrower, so that less air comes in and out of the lungs.
Symptoms include squeaky squeaking, breathlessness, a cough or a tight breast – and are often activated by factors in the environment such as pollution, stress or colds.
Inhalers work on controlling the disease by reducing the number of blood cells that contributes to pneumonia.
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