Tramadol (marketed as Ultram, and as a generic) is an opioid pain medication which is used to treat moderate to moderately severe pain. The product is administered orally in the capsule form. It has a similar pain relief potency as pethidine and codeine. Generally the medication is used by people who are expected to need medication to relieve pain 24/7.
The Tramadol product is presented in cartons of 30 or 100 capsules, in RelonChem or Kent livery. The type of drug has been on the market since 1977. In the U.K., Tramadol is an increasingly commonly prescribed painkiller. The Daily Mail reports that prescriptions have almost doubled and stand at over 11 million.
The new alert has been posted by the U.K. government and it relates to potential fungal contamination. The contamination could cause patient harm. It has been marked as a class 2 medical recall. A class 2 specifies a recall within 48 hours because the defect could harm the patient but is not life-threatening.
The information about the recall is short in detail and no details about the fungus or the specific disease risk have been posted. This has not pleased some patients. One user of the drug wrote on a patient forum website: “My son has just forwarded me an important gov uk link for tramadol recall. These are 50mg boxes of 30 or 100 capsules and the reason behind this is they have fungal contamination. There is further info on the gov website. I will be going to my local pharmacy this morning as I only picked up my tramadol yesterday.”
The drug is used worldwide. However, there has yet to be any information from other regulators, like the FDA, on the subject or any similar recall initiated.
