Glass Flakes Prompt Amgen Drug Recall

Biotech giant Amgen Inc. said it is recalling certain lots of its anemia medications Procrit and Epogen because the injected drugs may contain glass flakes. The problem may be caused by glass from the inside of drug’s vial, which could flake off over time. Amgen, based in Thousand Oaks, manufactures Epogen in the United States and Johnson & Johnson Inc. markets the drug under the Procrit brand. Amgen said no adverse events have been reported but that glass flakes in the product could cause blood clots and other vascular problems. The company has said it will shorten the shelf life and also switch to different vials.