Stolen Advair Inhalers Surface in Pharmacies

Cheryl A. Thompson

BETHESDA, MD 16 July 2010—GlaxoSmithKline and FDA announced today that some of the Advair Diskus inhalers stolen nearly a year ago from a company warehouse in Virginia were recently found in pharmacies.

These inhalers were the first ones from the August 2009 theft that have been "found in commerce," the company and agency said.

The theft, according to GlaxoSmithKline, involved 14,400 Advair Diskus 250/50 inhalers from lot 9ZP2255 and 11,200 Advair Diskus 500/50 inhalers from lot 9ZP3325. All have an expiration date of September 2010.

A GlaxoSmithKline spokeswoman, when asked how the pharmacies came into possession of the stolen inhalers, said she had limited information to share publicly because the theft is an "ongoing criminal investigation."

Pharmacists and wholesalers who find the fluticasone–salmeterol inhalers from the two lots are being asked to remove them from shelves and contact FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations at 800-551-3989.