Ketamine recall underway

The reported death of five cats prompted Teva Animal Health to widen its recall to include all vials of ketamine hydrochloride injection last week, yet the company’s technical services department insists that the action was caused merely by “increased medical events that were kind of unfounded.”

That statement, offered by a Teva technical services representative who did not give her name, has confused some veterinarians. On Dec. 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a recall alert, instructing practitioners to stop using all 27 lots of Teva’s ketamine hydrochloride injection, USP CIII 100 mg/ml in 10 ml vials due to “serious adverse events.”....

According to the FDA, reported problems with Teva’s ketamine include lack of effect, prolonged effect and death.