Carpuject Glitch Causes Overdose Warning

WASHINGTON (CN) – Some Hospira Carpuject pre-filled syringe cartridges contain extra medication, which may produce an overdose, according to a Food and Drug Administration press release.      Pharmacies and other healthcare providers are asked to check each cartridge for what may be “at least twice the expected amount” of medication, the FDA said in the May 23 press release.     The FDA warns providers to “visually check” cartridges containing 15 kinds of medicine, including Demerol, diazepam, fentanyl, heparin, lorazepam and morphine.     “The manufacturing problem thought to be responsible for this overfilling has resulted in the risk for overfilled Carpuject pre-filled cartridges for as many as 280 lots of 15 different Carpuject pre-filled cartridge products,” reported the FDA.     Healthcare providers are asked not to use the over-filled cartridges, and return them to Hospira, Inc. The FDA chose this method of rounding up the cartridges, because it believes a recall of all cartridges at risk “would result in an immediate medication shortage,” according to the press release.     The FDA says it is still evaluating whether additional steps are necessary.