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When was the last time you went through your medicine cabinet? Drug recalls are common, but you may miss the news and take a recalled drug anyway.

The same goes for car removal. We’re driving, blissfully unaware of an important memory. Here’s how to search for recalls that affect your vehicle.

This is scary, but taking dangerous drugs could be even worse. I’ll show you how to start a prescription drug audit to make sure your medications are safe.

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This is how drug memories work

A recall is usually a voluntary action taken by a company to remove a defective product from the market. This can be applied to anything from cars to televisions. Sometimes the government calls for a withdrawal.

When it comes to pharmaceutical companies, the FDA has three classes of recalls:

Class I recalls are the most serious. In such situations, there is a “reasonable likelihood that use of or exposure to an infringing product will result in serious adverse health consequences or death.”

Class II recalls are when “use or exposure to an infringing product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or when the likelihood of serious adverse health consequences is remote.”

Class III recalls are “unlikely to cause adverse health consequences.”

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Check your meds

So how do you know if a medication you’re taking or one that’s sitting in your cupboard is safe to use? It pays to audit your pharmacist a couple of times a year. Of course, throw away anything that’s expired.

Then it’s time to check the status of all your prescription and over-the-counter medications by visiting it fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts. Follow these steps:

Write the brand name or product description in the Search field. For example, you can search for Advil or the generic name for ibuprofen.

Click on Product Type drop-down menu to narrow the search results.

You will get a list of medicines that match your query. You can export the results to Excel by clicking the Export Excel button.

If you see your product listed, click it to visit a page with a summary of the recall and more details behind it. You may also receive instructions on how to return a defective product and contact information for the manufacturer.

The results on this page come from press releases and other public notices. You may have a medication that has an active recall but does not appear in the search. The Execution reporting program contains information on recalls shortly after being classified by the FDA, along with pending recalls.

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