Drug company Apotex recalls Canadian birth control pills

A Canadian drug company is recalling birth control pills because they contain an extra week of placebo pills in place of the actual drug, health officials said. Apotex, maker of the Alysena-28 birth control pill, said it does not know how the packages were improperly filled. The recall includes nine different lots of the pill, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said Friday. Women can tell whether they have the correct dosage by whether their monthly package contains one row of white pills (the placebos) or two. Those with the extra row should be returned to the pharmacy. The extra week of placebos contain no health risk if taken but reduce the effectiveness of the birth control regimen. Canadian health officials expressed outrage at how Apotex handled the recall. At first the company only notified pharmacists and not doctors, professional societies or women themselves. "I am concerned that Canadians may not have received important information in a timely manner. As a result, I have instructed Health Canada to look into the issue and assess whether processes were followed and that they are sufficient," Canadian Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said.