If you're on the pill, you might want to double check which brand you're taking - Refinery29 reports that Lupin Pharmaceuticals is recalling the Mibelas 24 Fe birth control pill due to a manufacturing error that caused the placebo pills to be packaged in the wrong place.
Apparently, during manufacturing the monthly pill packs were accidentally rotated 180 degrees - causing the placebo pills, a.k.a. the sugar pills in the pack that allow you to start your period, to be placed at the beginning of the month instead of the end like they usually are. Obviously, this is a huge problem since taking placebo pills at the beginning of the month when you've already been taking them for multiple days leaves you majorly unprotected from pregnancy.
Birth control recall! Lupine pharmaceuticals recalling Mibelas 24 Fe. Packing error put them out of sequence, user could get pregnant. pic.twitter.com/8phu8kgu6T
— Laura Garcia Cannon (@LauraGarciaCann) June 9, 2017
Thankfully, if you are on Mibelas 24 Fe, you can know what to look out for in case you have a pack that was affected. The FDA has confirmed that the affected lot number is L600518, and has an expiration date of May 2018. It's also possible to differentiate the placebo pills from the active pills by checking the numbers on them: active pills feature "N81" printed on one side, while the placebos have "M22" printed on them.
According to New York Magazine, Lupin Pharmaceuticals said in a statement that anyone with an affected product should return it to their pharmacy, and users should talk to their doctor about the possibility of an unintended pregancy. So far, the company says there have been no reports of unintendend pregnancy due to the error - but if you're taking Mibelas 24 Fe to prevent pregancy or combat other hormonal symptoms, you're going to want to check the pack you're taking just to be safe.