Pfizer Recalls Lo-Ovral & Its Generic Birth Control Pill. What Should You Do?

You’ve heard by now that Pfizer has recalled about a million birth control pills due to concerns the the hormone dosing and pill order in the packs could be wrong. This could affect the pills efficacy, exposing women to unplanned pregnancy.  There are no concerns beyond this about safety.

The pill they’ve recalled is called Lo-Ovral or its generic Norgestrel 0.3 mg/Ethinyl Estradiol 0.03mg. I’ve posted a list of the affected lots below. The first thing you need to do is check your pill pack against the list to see if you are taking a recalled pill.

If you’re not taking a recalled pack, take a deep breath and relax. Then share this post on Facebook or wherever you share, so that your friends who may be taking a recalled pill learn about it as soon as possible.

What should you do if you are taking a recalled pack?

Talk to your doctor about what you should do if you are taking a recalled pack. Here’s what I’ll be telling my affected patients.  (Disclaimer – What follows is advice I will be giving my patients.  What your doctor may want you to do could differ. )

• First of all, don’t panic.  If you’re not spotting or bleeding out of schedule,  you’re probably still protected against pregnancy. But make no assumptions – Presume you are unprotected and follow the steps below.

• Head immediately to the pharmacy for a new pack of pills.

• If you’ve been sexually active since your last period, do a pregnancy test. If it’s negative (and it most likely will be negative), start your new pack immediately and use condoms for the next two weeks. Your next period should come at the end of your new pack of pills. If it does not, do another pregnancy test. If you don’t want to wait till then to be sure you’re not pregnant, you can do a second pregnancy test two to three weeks after the first.

• If you’ve had sex in the past 5 days, discuss with your doc if you should consider taking emergency contraception.

• If you haven’t been sexually active, no harm has been done. Get a new pack and start it right away. Use condoms if you have sex in the next two weeks.

• If you’re pregnant, contact your doctor. What you decide is up to you, but know that accidental exposure to normal doses of birth control pills in early pregnancy should not impact the pregnancy outcome.