58,000 UK pregnancy tests recalled after false positives

The lives of thousands of women in the UK have been potentially changed forever after more than 58,000 at-home pregnancy tests were recalled for giving false positive results.

According to People, a "small number" of women were incorrectly told they were expecting a child after taking the faulty test from the brand Clear & Simple.

The manufacturer, Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech, has since pulled back the tests from distribution and UK health officials are advising people to check and see if their tests are from the faulty lot.

According to the alert released by the manufacturer, the digital pregnancy tests were defective due to an issue with the casing of the product.

The UK government also released a press release warning potential customers of the issue.

"Patient safety is our highest priority," Dr. Duncan McPherson, the clinical director of medical devices at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, said.

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"We strongly encourage anyone to report any issues with this product.”

The press release urges anyone who has purchased an affected test to seek "alternative testing methods".

A similar incident occurred a year ago in Australia after at-home tests were found to be unreliable and inaccurate.

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The recall was sparked by the Therapeutic Goods Administration's review of a wide range of pregnancy self-test kits that rely on detecting the hormone known as human chorionic gonadotropin in a woman's urine.

"Some devices were found not to work reliably and accurately and have either been corrected or removed from the market," the TGA said in a statement at the time.

"All devices remaining on the market in Australia have been shown to work reliably and accurately."