Pet Rx recalls: Teva ketamine anesthesia & Petsulin for diabetic dogs & cats

January 1, 2010

I just received emails on 2 pet medicine recalls - Teva ketamine, an anesthetic and Petsulin, an insulin for diabetic dogs and cats. Elizabeth Guare

AnimalVoicesNews & AlertSSeven labels tied to Teva ketamine recall, FDA says <http://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?articleId=14720> 12/31/2009 The reported death of five cats prompted Teva Animal Health to widen its recall to include all vials of ketamine hydrochloride injection last week, yet the company¹s technical services department insists that the action was caused merely by ³increased medical events that were kind of unfounded.² That statement, offered by a Teva technical services representative who did not give her name, has confused some veterinarians. On Dec. 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a recall alert, instructing practitioners to stop using all 27 lots of Teva¹s ketamine hydrochloride injection, USP CIII 100 mg/ml in 10 ml vials due to ³serious adverse events.² The expiration dates of the lots range from September 2009 to February 2012, the FDA says. Additionally, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) warns practitioners not to rely on the Teva brand name to determine whether their ketamine falls under the recall. Rather, the following signs offer a better indication: * If the lot number is six numeric digits, the product is not part of the recall. * If the lot number is seven numeric digits, the product should be returned. * If the lot number starts with 5401, regardless of the number of digits or the presence of letters in the lot code, the product should be returned. According to the FDA, reported problems with Teva¹s ketamine include lack of effect, prolonged effect and death. <http://www.vin.com/WebLink.plx?URL=http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm195118.htm>

The second recall involves a lawsuit filed against makers of Petsulin which is an insulin for diabetic dogs and cats which states that faulty manufacturing rendered the medicine useless. The article stated that a sweet dog died of diabetic kidney failure despite getting daily injections by his loving guardian.