So…you might ask yourself, what drugs or
OTC remedies have disappeared from the shelves of your local drug store or mass
merchant…and why? More important to me
is just where was I when this happened…?
Perhaps retirement has made me complacent…
When is the last time that you saw a
bottle of Rolaids? I much prefer them
to Tums but this bottle may be one of the last of its kind in the USA. There are just a few Rolaids left in this
container, (expiration 5/2005), so I guess I’ll have to resort to Tums in the
near future. Laurie has already made the
switch. So what happened to Rolaids?
As a result of multiple recalls,
production was suspended by McNeil – PPC Inc., the manufacturer of Rolaids in
2010. The brand is now owned by a French company, Sanofi. I had asked our pharmacist what had happened
to Rolaids and he told me that quality control problems and filthy
manufacturing conditions had led to a shutdown of production. Indeed, there were multiple recalls of
Rolaids in 2010. If you check on the
Internet, you will find a website that is specifically designed for American
customers…but you still can’t buy any Rolaids.
Check it out at http://www.rolaids.com/.
Our pharmacist also mentioned a couple
other widely known OTC brands that have been taken off the market… How about Liquid
Mylanta for heartburn relief? This
product is also a McNeil staple, but it too has been withdrawn from the
marketplace. (Tablets are still available) Again the issue was quality control
in the manufacturing process. For more
information regarding this product go to http://www.mylanta.com/product-availability
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mylanta.
The biggest stunner to me was
Tylenol! The same recall that impacted
Rolaids and Liquid Mylanta in 2010, also affected Tylenol. Some types of Tylenol still aren’t available
to the consumer. In that recall,
53,000,000 bottles of McNeil – PPC Inc. products were involved! Tylenol,
Motrin, Rolaids, Benadryl, St. Joseph's Aspirin and later Zyrtec were all
involved in these recalls. For further
information, just go to http://www.tylenol.com/ and/or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tylenol.
Wow!
I guess I’d better spend more time watching the news on TV or via the
Internet! How’d we miss this story?
Thanks for stopping by and checking out
my failure to ensure that I'm fully informed at all times…
Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
Sounds like the Mfg needs to be out of business.
ReplyDeleteNever used those products....so I guess I did not miss them. When I get an unsettled stomach.....Gavaston is my go to OTC "fire putter outer". Hummmmm....maybe I better stock up on Gavaston "cherry flavor" just in case.
ReplyDeleteYes, I discovered this when Tylenol wasn't in any of the drug stores. Crazy!
ReplyDeleteI missed this as well, Dave. Here in Oregon certain types of what use to be, over the counter allergy and cold medicines now require a prescription because they were being used in meth labs. Go figure! I must admit I can't understand how a drug company with quality control issues is allowed to do business. Let's throw the rascals out. I hope your week is off to a great start.Blessings...Mary
ReplyDeleteI did not know about these drugs not being available anymore, but I don’t use them either. My husband is the one watching the news and the weather on TV – I go on the computer and read about the news faster, plus I like to read the French, Belgian, Canadian, British and Australian news, as I can get a different twist on things (often they mention events that are not in the news here, or are told differently for the American public.) I do like to watch some shows on TV, well the Tour de France in summer, and then I also like Anthony Bourdain. I looked at your past shows and sent an email to my daughter in Nashville telling her I’d like to go both to the car museum and the antique store in the old manufacturing car plant – they look quite interesting.
ReplyDelete