ReliOn Insulin Syringes
Nearly a half-a-million disposable ReliOn insulin syringes sold at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores were recalled by their manufacturer, Covidien Ltd., on October 9, 2008. Because of a possible labeling error, patients using the recalled syringes could receive more than double the intended dose of insulin, which could result in serious and potentially fatal side effects.
According to a recall notice issued by the Food and Drug Administration, some syringes intended for use with a different type of insulin were accidentally mixed in with the recalled syringes and packaged together. The use of these improperly labeled syringes could lead to an insulin overdose of as much as 2.5 times the intended dose, and may cause hypoglycemia or other serious side effects, including death. So far, there has been at least one report of a patient who suffered side effects after using one of the recalled syringes.
The FDA announced that the products affected by the labeling error were the ReliOn 1cc, 31-guage hypodermic syringes sold at both Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club. Only the disposable ReliOn syringes from lot number 813900 and labeled as “100 units for use with U-100 insulin” are the subject of the recall.
A total of 4,710 boxes, or 471,000 individual syringes were distributed before the ReliOn recall notice was issued. The FDA says that these syringes were sold at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores between August 1 and October 8, 2008. Patients who purchased the recalled insulin syringes will be provided with a replacement, according to an announcement posted by Wal-Mart.
If you or a loved one has been injured after using one of the mislabeled ReliOn insulin syringes, contact the law office of Hissey Kientz to learn more about how to protect your legal rights. You can reach us by calling toll-free at (866) 275-4454, or by filling out a free case evaluation form to the right of this page.