Maalox antacid warning: Dangerous name confusion

If you bought any Maalox drug product recently, you should double-check to make sure you got the one you expected. The Food and Drug Administration warned Wednesday about potential mix-ups between Maalox over-the-counter drugs that treat completely different conditions, but that have similar names and packaging: Maalox Total Relief that treats upset stomach and diarrhea vs. other Maalox liquid antacid products for treating heartburn (Maalox Advanced Regular Strength and Maalox Advanced Maximum Strength). Mistaking Maalox Total Relief for one of the antacid products could lead to serious side effects.

Five cases of serious side effects in people who mistook Maalox Total Relief for one of the antacid products have been reported to the FDA.

The agency did not provide the details about the five cases, but a fix is on the way. The manufacturer of all the Maalox products, Novartis Consumer Health, has agreed to change the name (the new name hasn't been revealed yet) and the packaging of Maalox Total Relief to prevent consumer confusion. But the new item won't hit store shelves until September.

So in the meantime, read the packaging carefully to make sure you're getting the right medicine. And that goes for all drugs, not just these Maalox products.

"The FDA is concerned about the public health impact of medication mix-ups for products that have the same names or portions of the same name, but contain different active ingredients," Carol Holquist, director of FDA's Division of Medication Error Prevention and Analysis, said in a statement. "We want companies to consider the potential for name confusion when choosing names for their drugs."

The FDA's main concern with consumers mistakenly selecting Maalox Total Relief is that its active ingredient (bismuth subsalicylate) is similar to aspirin and could cause side effects such as bleeding. This means it should not be taken by people with a history of gastrointestinal ulcer disease or a bleeding disorder.

Maalox Total Relief also should not be taken by children and teens if they are recovering from a viral infection, such as chicken pox or flu, because it could cause a rare but serious condition called Reye's syndrome. A final concern is that Maalox Total Relief could interact with other medications, including oral diabetes drugs, blood-thinners, such as warfarin (Coumadin and generic) and clopidlogrel (Plavix), and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as naproxen (Aleve and generic) or ibuprofen (Advil and generic).

That's a long list and difficult to remember, so it's a good idea to always carefully read the labeling of any drug before you buy it or take it--or ask the pharmacist on duty at the drugstore—to make sure it's appropriate for your condition and that it doesn't interact with other medications you're taking.

—Steve Mitchell, associate editor, Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs

To learn more about heartburn drugs, check out our free Best Buy Drug report.