Teva, Propofol And Michael Jackson

I’m writing this entry pretty straightforward and matter of factly for obvious reasons, I think.

The Food and Drug Administration today announcedthat Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is voluntarily recalling two lots of the anesthetic Propofol because there are higher levels of potentially fatal endotoxins.

The FDA announcement includes a link to a Teva press releasedated yesterday. But the last press release posted in Teva’s “Media Room” on its website is dated July 13th.

Michael Jackson
AP
Michael Jackson

Propofol is the same drug that was reportedly found in Michael Jackson’s house.

Teva spokesperson Denise Bradley told me the Drug Enforcement Administration has contacted the company about one specific lot.

She couldn’t say why.

However, she also said that the two lots the company is recalling do not include the one lot the DEA asked about.

The FDA and Teva say they’ve received reports of 41 people in Arizona, Florida and Missouri who had a negative reaction to the drug after surgery. There are no reports of deaths. The nearly 58,000 vials in the two lots were reportedly filled at a plant in Southern California. If the drug were found in Jackson’s house, authorities can presumably trace where it came from.

Shares of TEVA, the world’s biggest generic drug company (it also makes brand-name products), were down today, but closed off of their intra-day lows.

Questions? Comments? Pharma@cnbc.com and follow me on Twitter at mhuckman