THE IRISH MEDICINES Board (IMB) has released an alert about seven defective lots of anti-allergic reaction pens.

The pens – made by Jext – may have “a quality defect which potentially leads to injection failure”, according to the IMB. It is thought to affect 1 in every 2,500 pens in each lot.

The products affected are:

Jext 150mcg (Junior) Solution for Injection in a Pre-filled Pen

Lot numbers:

• 0000884201 (expiry date 31/03/2015)
• 0000871645 (expiry date 28/02/2015)
• 0000785382 (expiry date 31/01/2015)

Jext 300mcg Solution for Injection in a Pre-filled Pen

• Lot numbers:
• 00008744584 (expiry date 28/02/2015)
• 0000816025 (expiry date 31/01/2015)
• 0000774776 (expiry date 31/01/2015)
• 0000780783 (expiry date 31/01/2015)

What to do if you have a Jext pen  and are concerned:

• Check the lot number. The IMB says that the lot number can be found on the pen or the outer box and is usually preceded by the letter ‘LOT’.
• If yours is one of those in the list above, return it to a pharmacy, where you will be given an unaffected pen free of charge.
• If it is not, then your pen is fine and you can continue to carry it.

An image released by Jext pen manufacturers ALK-Abello shows where to look for the lot number on your pen or the box it came in.

The IMB’s Director of Compliance, John Lynch, said that the recall was just precautionary and that patients should always carry two pens at all times.

There has been no report in Ireland so far of injection failures from those lots.

The IMB has further information on the recall on its website here while the manufacturers of Jext show photographs of the boxes and where to look for the lot numbers here.

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