Located in New Jersey, DermaRite Industries, LLC is a leading manufacturer of advanced medical and skincare products. Currently, the company is in the process of recalling a number of hand soaps, cleansers, and antiseptic washes. On August 8, the recall was filed. It’s associated with microbial contamination with Burkholderia cepacia, a pathogen that can cause severe or even life-threatening infections, particularly in at-risk patients. The declaration, as it was referred to in the announcement, was later made available on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website.
DermaRite has notified its distributors and customers on an immediate and emergency basis. They should carefully check their product lines for products that would be impacted immediately. So far, the company has warned customers to dispose of any recalled items per their facility’s procedures. The affected formulas have expiration dates between July 2025 and February 2027. A full list with the affected lot and reorder numbers is available here on DermaRite’s website.
Burkholderia cepacia is of especially great concern to the immunocompromised and to patients with chronic lung diseases, including cystic fibrosis. According to DermaRite, “The contaminated products may be used by immunosuppressed individuals or by people attending to immunosuppressed individuals.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that even healthy people are at risk for invasive local infections from these small skin lesions from contaminated products. Yet for those who are immunocompromised, the risk of infection increases significantly. In these cases, “the infection is more likely to spread into the bloodstream leading to life-threatening sepsis,” as noted by DermaRite.
Consumers with additional questions can call an information line that DermaRite has set up just for this issue. For questions, you can reach the company at 569-9000, ext. Email or call us Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST. Otherwise, questions may be submitted by email to voluntary.action@dermarite.com.
