In August 2013, Cubist Pharmaceuticals issued a recall of its product Cubicin, an intravenous antibiotic medication used to treat certain skin infections. The recall was based on the fact that small glass particles had been found in some vials of Cubicin. This recall was limited to just four lots of Cubicin that shipped between 2011 and 2013.

In April 2014, Cubist issued another recall of one additional lot of Cubicin. This was followed on August 6, 2013 by a recall of an additional 101 lots of Cubicin that shipped between 2011 and 2014. The following day, yet another lot was recalled. According to Cubist:

Although Cubist claims that it is aware of no “adverse events” associated with the glass particles found in Cubicin, our law firm is investigating the case of a man who suffered a pulmonary embolism very soon after receiving a Cubicin infusion. Because the Cubicin recalls were not widely publicized until August 2014, it is very conceivable that there are many other victims who have yet to make a connection between receiving Cubicin and suffering an embolism or similar medical problem.

Much information remains to be discovered about the dangers of Cubicin and how the manufacturer responded when it learned of those dangers. Carrying out the recall in piecemeal fashion, over the course of an entire year, seems very suspect.