Active, completed, and terminated describe the progress of a recall action; they are not blanket safety verdicts for every product. FDA’s Recall Procedures glossary distinguishes a recall that has completed retrieval or corrections from one FDA has formally terminated after evaluating the action. Your decision still requires an exact product match and proof that your individual unit received the required return, repair, update, relabeling, disposal, or monitoring action.
Last checked August 26, 2026. Database status can be updated after the first notice. Record the page and date you checked, then confirm the current consumer or patient contact before attempting an old remedy.
Three words can refer to two different levels
One level is the overall recall program: the firm notifies customers, retrieves or corrects product, reports progress, and seeks closure. The other level is your item: affected or not, remedy started or not, and correction completed or not. A terminated program can still be relevant to an old unit found in a home, resale listing, facility, or inventory room. A currently active program does not establish whether a particular serial or lot is included.
| Status term | What it generally describes | What it does not prove |
|---|---|---|
| Active or ongoing | The recall action is still being carried out or monitored | That every remedy is immediately available or every similar item is affected |
| Completed | The firm reports retrieval or corrections reached the expected point for monitoring | That FDA has formally terminated the recall or your unit was fixed |
| Terminated | FDA determined reasonable recall efforts and disposition or correction criteria were met | That an uncorrected unit is safe, legal to resell, or no longer needs review |
Find which agency and database owns the status
Status vocabulary is not perfectly interchangeable across FDA centers, CPSC, NHTSA, USDA, or company portals. Stay inside the source that issued the record. For an FDA medical device, compare the manufacturer communication with the FDA recall database. For a vehicle, use the VIN result and campaign status. Do not transfer the meaning of “completed” from a company claim tracker to the agency’s recall status.
FDA’s Medical Device Recall Database explains that it can post a company correction or removal before FDA completes classification and updates the record again when the recall is terminated. The create date is the date FDA classified the recall, not necessarily when the company first acted. Dates therefore need labels: company notice, FDA posting, classification, your remedy, and termination.
Build a unit-level remedy ledger
- Save the official recall number, firm, product description, affected identifier range, classification, and current status.
- Match the physical product using the strongest permanent identifier; record unknown when a field cannot be read.
- Extract the exact action and responsible party: consumer, pharmacy, clinician, distributor, facility, dealer, or manufacturer service.
- Record the claim or work-order number, return tracking, installed version, replacement serial, destruction proof, or monitoring plan.
- Compare that evidence with the notice’s completion requirement and list any missing step.
- Ask the current official contact how an unresolved affected unit is handled under the present program status.
This ledger prevents a database label from closing an individual case prematurely. It also helps when a company has merged, a portal has moved, or a facility inherits older equipment without complete service records.
A terminated recall can still matter to an item in hand
FDA’s device correction and removal guidance says termination occurs when reasonable efforts have been made and it is reasonable to assume the product has been removed or properly corrected in line with the hazard. That is a program-level determination. It does not create evidence that the unidentified device in front of you was among the units found or corrected.
Do not use, donate, sell, or discard an uncertain product merely because the record is old. Confirm the affected range and ask the current firm or agency contact whether the original remedy remains available, has changed, or has ended. Preserve the response. A remedy marked unavailable may require safe disposal or another route, but that conclusion must come from the current notice or authority.
Recover an old or apparently closed case
- If the link is dead, search the recall number and firm name on the agency domain, then check whether the firm was acquired.
- If the label is unreadable, use service, purchase, registration, or clinical records; do not copy a serial from a similar unit.
- If the company says the case is closed, ask whether that means completed, duplicate, ineligible, or outside the remedy period.
- If a correction was supposedly performed, request the work order, version, replacement identifier, or acknowledgment that ties it to this unit.
- If the official status and company reply conflict, provide both records to the agency contact and keep the item in the safer interim state named by the notice.
Interpret four common combinations
Active program plus affected unit means follow the current action and track completion. Active program plus nonmatching unit means this recall does not establish coverage, although another notice may. Terminated program plus documented correction means retain the evidence with the product. Terminated program plus affected but undocumented unit means contact the responsible firm or agency; the status alone cannot settle the item’s condition.
A zero-result search does not establish that a product was never recalled. A terminated result does not prove safety. A completed company claim does not prove FDA termination. Keep the exact noun—program, claim, shipment, correction, or device—beside every status word.
Status questions that change the next step
Is completed the same as terminated?
Not in FDA’s glossary. Completed is used for monitoring when expected retrieval or corrections are achieved; terminated is FDA’s formal conclusion after the criteria are met.
Can I still request a remedy after termination?
Possibly, but availability is program-specific. Use the current contact in the agency record and ask about your exact affected unit. Do not promise yourself a refund or replacement from the historical status.
What if my repair record has no recall number?
Ask the service provider to connect the date, device identifier, work performed, part or software version, and campaign number. Similar maintenance is not proof that the recall correction was completed.
Locate the underlying record with the FDA recall list guide. If the status belongs to a device correction, use the medical device recall check to match the unit before interpreting closure.