Contac Coming Back in Caplets--and Capsules

The makers of Contac, which was pulled from store shelves in March because of tampering, said today the popular cold medicine will be reintroduced in caplets and tamper-resistant capsules.

“This is a national re-launch of Contac, and the product will be made available before the cold and allergy season,” around August or September, said Henry Wendt, chief executive officer of SmithKline Beckman Corp.

SmithKline said, however, it will discontinue its capsule Dietac, a dieting aid also affected by the tampering. Dietac sales had been declining, Wendt said.

An allergy medicine called Teldrin also will be placed on sale again, Wendt said.

The company voluntarily pulled the medicines from stores nationwide on March 21 after traces of rat poison were found in 10 capsules in Houston and Orlando, Fla. No arrests have been made.

Contac will be packaged in a solid white caplet form, Wendt said, but because about half of the consumers polled wanted the return of capsules, SmithKline developed a clear capsule, double-wrapped in gelatin and bound with a red seal designed to let consumers see whether there was foreign material inside.

“The purpose is to make Contac more resistant to tampering. We will not allow our company to be held hostage to threats of random violence,” Wendt said. But he also said no product can be made “immune to the purposeful terrorist.”