Active Ingredients (in each 5 mL teaspoon) Aluminum hydroxide 200 mg (equivalent to dried gel, USP) Magnesium hydroxide 200 mg Simethicone 20 mg
Posted on 04/13/2013 12:28:46 AM PDT by LibWhacker
I'm just including a few of the replies on ask.com...
AntonioDittmann: 4 months ago
As of this writing, Maalox continues to be scarce. Some time ago, the manufacturer, Novartis, became aware of production problems at their Lincoln, NE plant. Although most of these problems seem related to pills not associated with Maalox, the plant was entirely shut down, affecting the supply of all drugs made at that plant. According to one source, the plant is under renovation and modernization, but I have not found a documented date of re-activation provided by Novartis. Other drugs affected by this shortage/recall include the cold remedy Triaminic, and the combo remedy Theraflu.
The shortage may also effect generic or store label brands of the same type as Maalox (a compound of Magnesium Chloride and Aluminum Chloride). One possible explanation is that many of these generic label brands are actually purchased overstock of the brand name or trademarked original. In other words, a store label compound that says something like, "compare to the active ingredient in Maalox," might actually be Maalox, with perhaps a small variation in texture so as not to advantage the store label product over the trademarked product.
home4sure: 1 year ago | Last edited at 9:18AM on 4/16/2012
Someone I know called Novartis (3/2012). They said that there is no recall on the product, but that they are having a shortage of liquid Maalox because they have shut down the US and Canadian plants that manufature the product, for remodeling. They said that they don't expect to start making it again until later this year. If the store ran out of stock, they will not be getting more for a few months.
TxPatriot: 1 year ago
The Maalox shortage continues, but is NOT limited to liquid forms. I have not seen ANY form of Maalox on the shelves in months, but also the drug store generics which are based on the Maalox formulations have ALSO disappeared from the shelves. This is in liquid or in TABLET form as well.
The fact that the retailers have no information, no contact with their manufacturers, and that nobody has really reported this leads me to believe the hand of government, specifically of Homeland Security MAY be involved here. They are the only agency which can order a company to do something and under pains of NATIONAL SECURITY letters under the "Patriot" Act, hold them criminally responsible for breaking that silence about the existence of the order.
Why would not the wholesaler or manufacturer want to get the word out to their customers to hang on, we're coming back shortly...don't switch to our rivals just yet. The longer this continues, the more likely that I'm correct.
seesthetruth: 7 months ago
Go the Maalox website--you have to google Maalox USA. I think the website is www.maaloxus.com. The website says some BS about insuring the integrity of the product, so they are temporarily suspending production of the product. There is something else going on. They had to pull their absolute BEST product (Maalox Total) off of the shelves because the FDA implied that people can't read and would be taking the wrong product. The government regulates what it wants to regulate. I have a feeling there is some trouble with the government and these products. But, as I said, if you go to the website you will see the explanation.
jimmy813: 5 months ago
Something fishy is going on..The B.S. about remodeling the plants and bits of strange substances being found in the product is the EXACT SAME explanation given when EXECDRIN disappeared.
At first, I chalked it up to competition from the new-fangled H2 blockers (pepcid, prilosec, zantac, tagamet, etc.). But the more I thought about it, the less sense that made. Entire classes of well-established products in the marketplace made by various manufacturers do not simply disappear overnight just because something better comes along. People are resistant to change. Old timers hang on to what works for them, to the familiar. Why change? That alone should keep the best products on the shelf for a long time.
Every once in a while I'll check the news aggregators for stories about Maalox. But nothing. Odd, to say the least. It really is as if a cloak of secrecy has been thrown over the situation. So naturally, like some of the contributors at ASK, I'm beginning to suspect the government is behind it. But why? What's in Maalox that the gov't doesn't want people to possess, and why the secrecy if it is something that's bad for us? I can't accept the "we're remodeling the plant" excuse. Gaviscon is also gone from store shelves and it's made by GlaxoSmithKline. So Novartis' remodeled plant explanation appears to be a bald-face lie, which increases my suspicions even more. Why would they do that?
Okay, I'm done. Slap some sense into me.
I heard the same thing as the author of this article. It could be it’s cheaper for them to produce under store names rather than their own brand. I checked with my pharmacy. They only had a couple of bottles of their own brand and no info on the original.
I would caution even though this is a good temporary fix; it can do more harm than not as in over indulging. After gall bladder surgery; I tried everything including Maalox which worked the best for a short period. Than I stopped everything and I hardly have any problems.
Changing the subject here —sorry, but what happened to Bufferin? I haven’t been able to find it for months.
Novartis is not a name I would have associated with Maalox. LOL!
But, apparently, it's true:
Maalox® is a relief to enjoy life
To our valued consumers, Novartis Consumer Health, the maker of Maalox®, is taking pre-emptive actions to ensure our products meet the highest quality standards, including temporarily voluntarily suspending operations at the Novartis Consumer Health Lincoln facility that produces Maalox® as well as suspending shipments from the site. As a result, Maalox® products are temporarily unavailable.
We apologize for the inconvenience that this might cause consumers and we are working hard to resume production at our Lincoln facility and return Maalox® back on to store shelves as soon as possible.
If you have questions or difficulty finding Maalox®, please call our customer service representatives toll-free at: 1-800-452-0051
Here is another discussion of the shortage
http://www.amazon.com/gp/forum/cd/discussion.html/ref=cm_cd_pg_pg1?ie=UTF8&cdForum=Fx20DX5GEB7TUX8&cdPage=1&cdThread=TxHDEY3KMVWXUU
Also, I see where Amazon is selling it for $75/bottle
WTH?
Active Ingredients (in each 5 mL teaspoon) Aluminum hydroxide 200 mg (equivalent to dried gel, USP) Magnesium hydroxide 200 mg Simethicone 20 mg
well, the two hydroxides work to neutralize acid, as they are bases (OH). the simethicone works to break large gas into frothy tiny gas bubbles easier to pass.
Maybe they are having a Maalox Moment?
I absolutely love Theraflu hot drinks when I’m sick, but they disappeared from store shelves last summer. I thought they’d just been discontinued. I guess I’ll have to do a little research.
Now that you mention it, Lipton had a great carbonated Green Tea sweetened lightly with natural sugar.
All that’s on the shelves now is the stuff with Sucralose and Aspartame.
It’s a plot against tea drinking sausage lovers.
There used to be a Norwegian variant of Maalox, but it too disappeared from the shelves literally overnight. Two years ago or thereabouts.
Strange thing, it used to be heavily advertized. On television and elsewhere. Suddenly you couldn’t even find old ads.
All I know is if you stop eating sugary carbs you will never need another maalox again.
“Sugary” includes starches like potato and wheat.
Seriously. If you have chronic heartburn, cut the carbs and it will disappear in 3 days. Forever.
Eat meat and green vegetables.
I don’t know, but it smells like another under-the-radar medicine regulation, possibly coming out of EU.
EU has regulated aspirin to the point where you can only buy 24 tablets a day, and at a price of around 5 bucks a pack. The Zero/EU admin will no doubt try and do the same.
” Lipton had a great carbonated Green Tea sweetened lightly with natural sugar. All that’s on the shelves now is the stuff with Sucralose and Aspartame.”
If you liked that then you’ll just LOVE this...
Could Dairy Industry Sneak Aspartame Into Your Milk?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3006898/posts
“It’s a plot...”
Yes, it is.
As a matter of fact, I commented on that thread.
Numbers 13 & 14.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3006736/posts?page=13#13
Put three tablespoons of baking soda in about a 1/2 cup of water and drink.
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