FDA Warns About Safety of Stolen Advair Inhalers

If you use Advair Diskus inhalers for asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), check your medicine cabinet. Your inhaler may be unsafe.

In 2009, some Advair Diskus inhalers were stolen from a distribution warehouse near Richmond, Virginia.  Now, they are starting to turn up in pharmacies. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA):

Stolen medicine may be harmful because it may have been stored at the wrong temperature or humidity or other improper conditions, may degrade or lose potency, become contaminated, or may have been tampered with or handled improperly while outside of the legitimate supply chain.

The lot numbers, doses, and quantities of the stolen Advair Diskus inhalers are:

• Lot 9ZP2255 – NDC 0173-0696-00, Advair Diskus 250/50, 60 Dose, Exp: Sep 2010 (14,400 inhalers)
• Lot 9ZP3325 – NDC 0173-0697-00, Advair Diskus 500/50, 60 Dose, Exp: Sep 2010 (11,200 inhalers)

Patients who have products with these lot numbers should immediately stop using them, contact GlaxoSmithKline’s Customer Response Center at 888-825-5249, and follow-up with their physician or pharmacist to obtain a proper replacement. To read the full FDA advisory, click here: Stolen Advair Diskus Inhalers