Medicine and disposable contact lenses withdrawn from sale

The anti-blood clotting drug Sintrom, the anti-inflammatory Junifen – which comes in syrup format and the main ingredient of which is Ibuprofen – and Acuvue daily-use contact lenses have been removed from sale, says the Spanish Medication and Healthcare Products Agency (AEMPS).

Not all varieties of these drugs have been taken off the shelves – for Sintrom, manufactured by Novartis, batch number T5484 - containing boxes of 20 pills of four milligrams each - has been withdrawn due to 'a foreign object' detected in one of the tablets, meaning it has been returned to the laboratory for testing.

Junifen, marketed by Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare, has seen batch G07 – syrup of 40 milligrams per millilitre – taken off sale due to 'results outside normal specifications', and returned to the laboratory for a 'recount of total yeast and fungus', or analysis of the bacteria which is the active ingredient of the drug.

And Acuvue's 1-Day Moist (Etafilcon A), and Acuvue Advance with Hydroclear (Galyfilcon A) have been removed from the shelves as a limited number of individual packs of contact lenses were found not to have been correctly sealed, meaning the solution inside the pack could have leaked out and made the lenses less sterile, potentially causing eye infections.

Spain's ministry of health has instructed pharmacies and opticians to stop selling these three products immediately and for patients to stop using them.

They should go to their doctor or optician as applicable in the event of any adverse effects suffered.