Generic Lipitor Recall-It May Contain Glass

Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals, Inc.of India is once again at the front of a problem with it's generic answers to precription drugs. This time it seems that their generic version of Lipitor may contain tiny particles of glass.

India's biggest drug maker, is operating under increased scrutiny from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration because of quality lapses at multiple Ranbaxy factories over the past several years. The FDA also has alleged that the company lied about test results for more than two dozen of its generic drugs several years ago.

On Friday, Ranbaxy posted a notice on its U.S. website, saying it's recalling 10-, 20- and 40-milligram doses of tablets of atorvastatin calcium. That's generic Lipitor, the cholesterol fighter that reigned for years as the world's top-selling drug.

The recall includes 41 lots of the drug, nearly all with 90 pills per bottle, but three lots contain 500 pills per bottle. It's unclear how many bottles are in each lot, but medicine batches typically contain many thousands of pills. The 80-milligram strength tablets are not affected.

A Ranbaxy spokesman did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press seeking further information.

"Ranbaxy is proactively recalling the drug product lots out of an abundance of caution," the company said on its website. "This recall is being conducted with the full knowledge of the U.S. FDA."