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Glite Dictionary
😣 Stopping a drug 🚫 Drug recall
drug withdrawal

drug withdrawal

3.9
The official removal of a medicine from sale by authorities or makers because it is unsafe
  • noun
  • /drʌg wɪðˈdrɔːəl/
  • Formal
translation icon : retirada de medicamento
  • The agency announced an immediate drug withdrawal after new evidence linked the treatment to rare heart problems.

Examples

  • The manufacturer initiated a voluntary drug withdrawal while it investigated reports of unexpected side effects overseas.

  • Patients awaiting the medication were notified of the drug withdrawal and advised to consult their doctors immediately.

  • The drug withdrawal was announced by the FDA yesterday.

  • Many patients were affected by the drug withdrawal last month.

  • The agency announced an immediate drug withdrawal after new evidence linked the treatment to rare heart problems.

  • Patients awaiting the medication were notified of the drug withdrawal and advised to consult their doctors immediately.

  • The manufacturer initiated a voluntary drug withdrawal while it investigated reports of unexpected side effects overseas.

Synonyms

delisting
vsdrug withdrawal
  • Specialized
1 6.4

Removal of something from an official list, for example when a company's shares stop trading on a stock exchange

is limited to pulling health products off the market for safety or quality concerns

How Final

to ban
  • Formal
484 1.4
drug withdrawal
  • Formal
3.9
suspension
70 4.3
warning
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

drug withdrawal singular
drug withdrawals plural

Morphology

drug + withdrawal

The phrase is compositionally built from 'drug' + 'withdrawal' (i.e. the withdrawal/removal of a drug), so the meaning is partly derivable from the parts. However, 'withdrawal' is polysemous and B1 learners often know it primarily as the cessation of drug use with symptoms, so they may misinterpret the phrase unless they know the 'product removal/recall' sense. This partial predictability but potential for confusion makes it only semi-transparent.

Etymology

Drug withdrawal in the sense of a product recall comes from the verb withdraw, like pulling a medicine off a shelf. Imagine a box being taken away from a pharmacy because it may be unsafe, so drug withdrawal means the official 'removal' of a drug from sale for safety or quality reasons.