SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has issued an alert that certain Advair Diskus inhalers stolen from a distribution warehouse last year have been found in some pharmacies.

According to the FDA, the safety and effectiveness of the stolen inhalers can’t be assured and therefore they shouldn’t be used. Advair Diskus (fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder) is an inhaler used to treat patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The FDA said the products were reported stolen in August 2009 from a GlaxoSmithKline warehouse near Richmond, Va. The inhalers found recently were the first from the stolen lots to be found in commerce.

However, the FDA noted that more stolen product may still be on the market, and it’s continuing to investigate the matter. Stolen medicine may be harmful because it may have been stored at the wrong temperature or humidity or other improper conditions, may degrade or lose potency, become contaminated, or may have been tampered with or handled improperly while outside of the legitimate supply chain, the agency explained.

The lot numbers, doses and quantities of the stolen Advair Diskus inhalers are the following:

• Lot 9ZP2255 — NDC 0173-0696-00, Advair Diskus 250/50, 60 dose, expired September 2010 (14,400 inhalers).

• Lot 9ZP3325 — NDC 0173-0697-00, Advair Diskus 500/50, 60 dose, expired September 2010 (11,200 inhalers).

Patients with products bearing those lot numbers are advised to immediately stop using them, contact GlaxoSmithKline’s Customer Response Center at (888) 825-5249 and follow up with their physician or pharmacist to obtain a proper replacement.

The FDA said pharmacists and wholesalers who find Advair Diskus inhalers bearing those lot numbers should remove them from shelves and contact the agency’s Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI) at (800) 551-3989 or visit the OCI web site at www.fda.gov/oci.