Lipitor Recall Expanded by Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)

Musty odors coming from bottles of Lipitor have been a bane to Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), as they've had to expand their recall by another 19,000 bottles. The specific lot hasn't been identified yet.

The 19,000 bottles recalled did contain 40 mg Lipitor pills, which brings the total number of bottles recalled to 360,000 now.

Pfizer has said in a statement, that the musty odor coming from the bottles comes from chemical called 2,4,6-tribromoanisole (TBA).

According to the FDA, tribromoanisole has little effect on health, and in lower concentrations its limited to gastrointestinal distress.

It isn't known where the TBA is coming from at this time, but pallets used to ship products can include TBP, which is a wood preservative.

TBA isn't allowed in the U.S., but it could be coming from pallet manufacturers outside the country.

The current lot of 19,000 was produced before any of this was found out and supplier practices changed, so there could be more of them out there that will have to be recalled in the future by Pfizer.

Pfizer said, "Product filled in bottles made by the supplier prior to those changes may still be on the market, so it is possible that additional recalls could be necessary."