Class 2 Medicines Recall: Xeal Pharma, Clopidogrel Oral Liquids (all strengths), EL(26)A/43
Read and act on the official notice on GOV.UK
The defect may cause mistreatment or harm to the patient, but it is not life-threatening or serious.
What all four recall classes mean
| Class | Action | The MHRA's definition |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Immediate action | The defect presents a risk of death or disability. |
| Class 2 this recall | Action within 48 hours | The defect may cause mistreatment or harm to the patient, but it is not life-threatening or serious. |
| Class 3 | Action within 5 days | The defect is unlikely to cause harm to the patient. |
| Class 4 | Caution in use | Usually minor defects in packaging or other printed materials. |
A Class 1 recall usually comes with a National Patient Safety Alert. Source: MHRA, safety communications.
In plain English, for the pharmacy team
Why is this relevant to community pharmacy
Clopidogrel oral solution and suspension are clopidogrel medicines, a blood thinner. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says the affected batches contain less than the labelled amount of clopidogrel, so patients may not get the full prescribed dose. This is relevant to pharmacists, dispensers and pharmacy assistants because the stock may be in community pharmacies and some patients may already have been supplied it.
What to tell patients
Use your professional judgement for each patient.
- Do not stop taking clopidogrel without medical advice.
- Your GP, specialist, pharmacist, or other healthcare professional will contact you if you need a new prescription for an alternative product.
- Keep taking your medicine as advised until you get an alternative.
- Once you have a replacement, return the impacted product to your pharmacy.
- If you have side effects or any questions, seek medical attention.
- Suspected side effects can be reported through the MHRA Yellow Card scheme.
What needs to be done
- Stop supplying the affected batches straight away.
- Quarantine any remaining stock and return it to your supplier using your supplier’s approved process.
- Pharmacists: identify and contact patients who were dispensed the affected batches and ask whether they still have stock.
- Pharmacists: if batch details are not available, contact all patients who were dispensed this product from 20 July 2026.
- Pharmacists: if an impacted product is found, contact the patient’s GP or prescriber to discuss ongoing treatment.
- Be aware that patients may need review, monitoring, a dose correction, an alternative licensed formulation, or a different treatment option.
- Report suspected adverse reactions via the MHRA Yellow Card scheme.
- Read and act on the official GOV.UK notice.
Pharmshark summary, checked and approved by Chris Dotchin on 1 Nov 2026. It is not the official notice: always read and act on the GOV.UK notice.
How this summary was written
An AI tool drafted it from the MHRA's own notice and nothing else. A second check compared every line with the notice. Pharmshark's clinical lead then read it against the notice, edited it where needed and approved it. If the MHRA changes the notice, this summary is taken down until it has been checked again.
The MHRA's summary
Xeal Pharma have informed MHRA that all strengths of their Clopidogrel Oral Suspension and Clopidogrel Oral Solution products contain less than the labelled amount of clopidogrel.
Affected batches
Use the GOV.UK notice for the batch numbers. Pharmshark could not list them safely from this notice (for example, they are in a PDF annex, or the table is laid out differently), so none are shown here.
What the notice says about its batches:
Clopidogrel Oral Solution, Clopidogrel Oral Suspension: For a list of defected batches, see Annex 1
MHRA's audience tags: All specialties