Forget about the hundreds of thousands of women in China trying for a Year of the Dragon baby or the ones in the rest of the world who are meticulously planning out their sex lives in hopes of giving birth on 12/12/12.
Oh no, the next baby boom won’t be inspired by winged serpents and paradigms; rather, in about 10 months or so the planet can thank Pfizer for the latest run on newborn diapers.
Less than 24 hours ago, the pharmaceutical giant announced a major recall of its birth control pills. The company is in the process of yanking one million packets of its oral contraceptives out of circulation because of a manufacturing error.
According to Pfizer:
“As a result of this packaging error, the daily regimen for these oral contraceptives may be incorrect and could leave women without adequate contraception, and at risk for unintended pregnancy. These packaging defects do not pose any immediate health risks. However, consumers exposed to affected packaging should begin using a non-hormonal form of contraception immediately.”
Pfizer claims the error was caused both by “mechanical and visual inspection failures on the packing line;” however, as of today, the problem has been corrected.
What a relief for the folks at Pfizer (at least the ones who still have jobs following this debacle), but what of the women who own packages that have too many or too few active tablets?
Were you among the millions of women who took to Facebook and Twitter yesterday passing on the message that Lo/Ovral-28 tablets and generic Norgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol tablets should be flushed down the toilet, especially if you don’t want to deal with an “oops baby”? Or, are you among the thousands looking to potentially cash in on Pfizer’s failing? Word has it that a number of attorneys are already drafting class-action lawsuits against the company for women who wind up pregnant as a result of the packaging error.
Just what the world needs: Wrongful pregnancy cases.
Personally, I subscribe to the theory that there is no such thing as an “accidental” pregnancy, but that’s just me.
Only time will tell if Pfizer’s flub increases the world’s population, and if so, by how much.