ADVIA Centaur Folate Ascorbic Acid/Ascorbic Acid Diluent; SMN 10316877. Used to prepare the Red Blood Cell hemolysate for use with the ADVIA Centaur systems folate assay.

Low red blood cell control recoveries and low results for red blood cell patient samples when using the ADVIA Centaur Systems Folate assay.

An Urgent Medical Device Recall (UMDR) was sent to all affected Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics customers in the United States on July 27, 2015 to be delivered to customers on July 28, 2015. An Urgent Field Safety Notice (UFSN) was sent out for distribution to all customers outside the United States on July 27, 2015. These notices inform the customer to discontinue use of ADVIA Centaur Folate Ascorbic Acid/Ascorbic Acid Diluent kit lots 54942, 56230 and 70673 and dispose of the remaining inventory per local regulations. The ADVIA Centaur Systems Folate red blood cell sample and control negative bias is minimal in the lower range of the assay and is more pronounced with increasing folate concentrations. The negative bias could lead to a misclassification of a patient as folate deficient. Siemens does not recommend a look back of previously tested patients. Fax-back forms will be used to confirm that the customers received the Urgent Medical Device Recall. For those customers that do not return a fax-back form, a Siemens representative will follow up with those customers to ensure they received the Urgent Medical Device Recall and completed the required actions.