White Watson 540s

There have been discussions recently about the color of Watson 540 acetaminophen / hydrocodone pills. The point is that they used to be light blue, and now some people started getting white-colored pills from their providers. Some patients wonder if these white ones are fake or authentic. We are glad to assure you that white Watson 540s are NOT fake. They only changed their color because the drug company decided to stop adding the blue dye into them (there had been complaints about allergic reactions to the dye in some patients). However, there are reports that soon Watson 540s will not be available in any color. This preparation contains a rather high amount of acetaminophen, 10mg in each pill, which is very harmful for the liver. So, they recommend to use this type of generic Lortab with caution. There is information that Watson Pharmaceuticals agreed the FDA's demands and is going to stop manufacturing generic Lortab pills which contain more than 5mg acetaminophen each.

Watson 540 Pill

They sometimes describe its color as white, sometimes as blue. Perhaps, we should better say that the pill is bluish white. Oval, with one side scored. "WATSON 540" index is debossed on the other side of the pill (letters above figures). As for the appearance, that seems to be all.

Now, active ingredients. Due to the fact, that Watson 540 pill is, in fact, generic Vicodin 10/500, each Watson 540 contains 10 mg hydrocodone bitartrate and 500 mg acetaminophen. The pill can as well be listed as generic Lortab or Norco (all the names are trade name variations for the same medicine).

A fact should be mentioned that generic versions of Vicodin 10/500 are distributed by other manufacturers, too. Along with Watson 540, the same strengths of hydrocodone and APAP can be found, e.g., in M363 pills manufactured by Mallinckrodt Pharms.