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Archived – Important Safety Information Regarding Medication Errors Resulting From Confusion Between Seroquel and Serzone-5HT2 – AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb – For the Public
- Starting date:
- October 31, 2002
- Posting date:
- October 31, 2002
- Type of communication:
- Public Communication
- Subcategory:
- Drugs
- Source of recall:
- Health Canada
- Issue:
- Important Safety Information
- Audience:
- General Public
- Identification number:
- RA-26437
This is duplicated text of a letter from AstraZeneca Canada Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada.
Contact the company for a copy of any references, attachments or enclosures.
Notice about Health Canada advisories
PUBLIC ADVISORY
Important Safety Information regarding medication errors resulting from confusion between Seroquel® and Serzone-5HT2®
October 31, 2002
AstraZeneca LP (United States) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (United States) have received reports of medication errors involving confusion between AstraZeneca's SEROQUEL® (quetiapine fumarate), indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia, and SERZONE® (nefazodone hydrochloride), a product of Bristol-Myers Squibb, indicated for the treatment of depression. AstraZeneca Canada has received one such report in Canada. As a result, AstraZeneca Canada and Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada are issuing a warning to all doctors and are recommending that patients look at the colour and markings of their current medications to ensure that they have the correct prescription.
According to the medication error reports, verbal and written prescriptions were incorrectly interpreted, labeled, and/or filled due to the similarity in names between SEROQUEL® and SERZONE®. In addition to the similarity in names between SEROQUEL® and SERZONE®, the overlapping strengths (100 mg and 200 mg), the dosage forms (tablets), the dosing interval (BID), and the fact that these two products are also stocked close together in pharmacies were considered important in causing these errors.
If you have been prescribed either SEROQUEL® or SERZONE-5HT2®, please ensure that you have received the proper medication. Descriptions of the appearance of the products are given below.
Product Identification
SEROQUEL® is supplied for oral administration as 25 mg (peach), 100 mg (yellow), 150 mg (pale yellow), 200 mg (round, white) tablets and 300 mg (capsule shaped tablets) embossed with the name "SEROQUEL".
SERZONE-5HT2® tablets are available in 50 mg, 100 mg, 150mg, and 200 mg hexagonal colour-coded tablets, and are imprinted "BMS".
Possible Side Effects
If you think you have received the incorrect prescription or are suffering from any of the following - confusion, hallucination, paranoia, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, muscle weakness, lethargy, dizziness and complications associated with these disorders - please contact your doctor or pharmacist.
Questions
If you have questions regarding your current prescription please take the pills back to your pharmacy and speak with your pharmacist. For questions on SEROQUEL® contact AstraZeneca Canada at 1-800-668-6000 or for SERZONE-5HT2® contact Bristol-Myers Squibb at 1-800-267-1088.
Any suspected adverse drug reactions or medication incidents can also be reported to:
Canadian Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Program (CADRMP)
Marketed Health Products Directorate
HEALTH CANADA
Address Locator: 0201C2
OTTAWA, Ontario, K1A 1B9
Tel: (613) 957-0337 or Fax: (613) 957-0335
Toll free for consumers and health professionals:
Tel: 866 234-2345, Fax: 866 678-6789
cadrmp@hc-sc.gc.ca
The ADR Reporting Form and the ADR Guidelines can be found on the TPD web site or in The Canadian Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties.