PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Triaminic and Theraflu products have been recalled for failing to meet child-resistant closure requirements.

The recall affects more than 2 million products manufactured between May 2010 and Dec. 2011.

“The child resistant closure that is on this can come off very easily,” explains Pittsburgh Poison Control Center director Rita Mrvos.

The recall involves 2.3 million units of “Triaminic Syrup” and “Theraflu Warning Relief Syrups for Cough, Colds, and Fevers,” made by Novartis.

There’s no problem with the medicine itself, which would be regulated by the FDA. The issue has to do with the child-resistant packaging.

“Anyone who’s had a little one around their house knows that at some point, the child can get into it easier than the adult can,” says Mrvos.

Packaging falls to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which has received 12 reports of children unscrewing locked caps, and four kids taking the medicine.

“We’re concerned that people get a little too overconfident in trusting these caps, when really they’re child resistant. They slow the child down, but they don’t stop them,” Mrvos adds.

These products contain the pain reliever acetaminophen and the anti-histamine diphenhydramine, which are required by the Poison Packaging Act to be sealed with child-resistant packaging.

Too much acetaminophen can damage your liver, and too much diphenhydramine can be sedating and slow your breathing.

“Shelf life, you’ve got five to seven years, so there still may be product on the shelf. Particularly in a smaller store that doesn’t have the turnover that a larger store has,” warns Mrvoz.

The 183 lots of affected products went to market a year ago, so most have already been sold. For those lot numbers, click this link: http://www.novartisotc.com/recall_theraflu_triaminic.html

If you have one of these products, you can contact Novartis for a full refund.

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