Evidence of a lack of crisis management concern?
Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc. is recalling more than 40 lots of atorvastatin pills — the generic version of the popular statin Lipitor — over possible glass contamination.
Statins, or lipid-lowering drugs, are among the most commonly prescribed medications in the United States. The drug Lipitor was hugely popular for Pfizer until the company’s patent expired in November 2011.
A generic version of the drug is now being recalled by the India-based Ranbaxy because small glass particles approximately less than 1 millimeter in size may be in select batches, the company said on its U.S. website.
This quote, from a CBS News article, explains just one part of the situation behind the latest crisis for India-based Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc. While the public is used to the occasional recall from pharma companies, what’s troubling about this situation is that Ranbaxy has a history of non-compliance with FDA standards.
Already under the direction of an FDA “consent decree” – a legal agreement created to force firms to make specific changes in order to protect consumers – Ranbaxy is likely to face further investigation into whether or not the proper changes have been made to uphold its end of the bargain. If not, then on top of consumer faith issues there’s the possibility of U.S. federal courts getting involved.
We suspect that pharmaceutical companies typically include the costs of several infractions yearly in their budgeting, but with the competition for generic drug sales skyrocketing there’s little reason for pharmacies or individual consumers to stick with a company that’s repeatedly demonstrated a lack of care for the safety of the people who purchase its product.
Ranbaxy has really done the bare minimum of crisis management in this case, listing recall information on its website and not a whole lot else. Today’s consumers expect a much more proactive approach, and unless Ranbaxy can sync up what they’re doing with what’s expected, we’d bet it will continue to run into problems down the road.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/
Comments 1
On top of that, mail-order pharmacy Express Scripts is refusing to replace pills in the hands of consumers at no cost. I know, I called them. “Company policy” – since FDA did NOT issue a “patient-level” recall, Express Scripts says that they are not going to replace pills at no charge. And yet at the same time, Express Scripts is shipping all its lots of Atorvastatin back to Ranbaxy. Other pharmacies are replacing at no charge – I checked with my local CVS, and was told by pharmacist that they would replace if I had ordered directly through them. Express Scripts not breaking any law……but showing very poor customer care, in my opinion.