King Pharmaceuticals

Pfizer Inc. (PFE) issued its second recall of thyroid-disease treatment Levoxyl in recent weeks, this time because some tablets didn't meet potency standards.Pfizer said Friday that Levoxyl is no longer available, and may not return to the market until mid-2014. Levoxyl is approved to treat hypothyroidism, a condition in which the thyroid gland doesn't produce enough hormones, and to prevent certain types of goiter.The drug maker said the latest recall was unrelated to a March recall of about 52,000 bottles of Levoxyl arising from complaints of uncharacteristic, plastic-like odors in the product. Pfizer attributed the odor problem to an oxygen-absorbing canister packaged in certain bottles to enhance product stability.The newer recall, of 84 lots of Levoxyl, was triggered by Pfizer's routine testing of Levoxyl batches made with a previous formulation, which revealed some tablets with potency that declined slightly below Pfizer's standard."Although only three batches tested for stabilit...

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