Massive Recall on Popular Maine Cold Medicine, Potentially ‘Life-Threatening’

You may want to double-check your cabinets and ensure that this popular, potentially toxic cold medicine is kept as far away as possible.

Get our free mobile app

With us Mainers currently deep in the heart of cold and flu season, which typically runs rampant through the fall and winter months, it wouldn’t be a surprise if you had medicine on hand meant to combat the unpleasant feelings brought about by the yearly illness. However, this medicine that’s being recalled may actually make you feel much, much worse.

But first, what does it mean when a product is ‘recalled?’

According to the Food and Drug Administration,

Recall is a voluntary action that takes place because manufacturers and distributors carry out their responsibility to protect the public health and well-being from products that present a risk of injury or gross deception or are otherwise defective.

Essentially, the goal of a voluntary recall, which is what we’re dealing with here, is to remove as many products from the marketplace as possible to minimize danger to the consumer and to minimize the company's exposure to future lawsuits.

So, what popular medicine is being subject to recall?

Haleon, whose tagline on their landing page claims to be ‘a world-leading consumer health company with a clear purpose to deliver better everyday health with humanity,’ has issued a voluntary nationwide recall of ‘Robitussin Honey CF Max Day Adult’ and ‘Robitussin Honey CF Max Nighttime Adult’ products due to what’s being called ‘microbial contamination.’

The recall was issued on January 24th, 2024, and reads,

In immunocompromised individuals, the use of the affected product could potentially result in severe or life-threatening adverse events such as fungemia or disseminated fungal infection. In non-immunocompromised consumers, the population most likely to use the product, life-threatening infections are not likely to occur. However, the occurrence of an infection that may necessitate medical intervention cannot be completely ruled out.

At the publishing of their announcement, Haleon had not received any reports of such adverse events related to this recall; however, it’s strongly advised that consumers should contact their physician or healthcare provider if they have experienced any problems that may be related to taking or using the recalled products.