Pharmaceutical company Pfizer is “recalling” 4.2 million units of its migraine medication Nurtec because the single eight-count blister pack in each box is not adequately child-proofed.

Nurtec is a pill that dissolves in the mouth, and is used to treat acute migraines and to prevent episodic migraines. The dosage is safe for adults, but it can poison young children.

The recall, announced Thursday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, does not involve returning the product in question, nor does it mean that the medicine is tainted or otherwise unsafe, as opposed to Food and Drug Administration recalls.

Instead, “recall” is used less literally, and refers to any repair or notice as defined by the CPSC.

Consumers are urged to contact Pfizer for a free child-resistant pouch. Once the pouch is received and the pills placed securely inside, consumers are encouraged to continue taking them.

Pharmacists, meanwhile, will place the medicine in a childproof vial before handing it out to patients. Pfizer had independently determined the product was not properly child-resistant after its acquisition of Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, the original makers of Nurtec.

Biohaven is now a subsidiary of Pfizer.

Patients should “rest assured that there are no quality or safety issues nor health risks when they take the medicine as prescribed for its approved use,” Pfizer told pharmaceutical news site Fierce Pharma.

The boxes in question were prescribed at pharmacies nationwide from December 2021 to the present. Each box has eight 75-milligram pills, with expiration dates through June 2026. The national drug code to look for is 72618-3000-2.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.