Pharmaceutical and medical device companies experienced an abnormal spike in problems in the first quarter of 2018, according to Stericycle Expert Solution's U.S. Recall Index.
Here are six insights.
1. Medical device recalls jumped 126 percent to 343 in the first quarter, more than double the last quarter.
2. Software was the top cause of medical device recalls for the eighth consecutive quarter, accounting for 22.7 percent of recalls. Other top causes included mislabeling and quality issues.
3. The average recall size for medical devices was 607,512, up from 245,862 last quarter.
4. Recalls of medical device products distributed both domestically and globally decreased to 36 percent. Fifty-five percent of medical device recalls were nationwide.
5. Pharmaceutical recalls shot up to 105, a 52 percent increase. It was the highest number of drug recalls since the third quarter of 2013.
6. Failed specifications were the reason behind almost 22 percent of drug recalls, followed by sterility and mislabeling.