The voluntary recall for two of Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd.’s blood pressure medications has been expanded after small amounts of a potentially cancer-causing toxin were discovered during testing.
The recall affects Losartan Potassium Tablets USP and Losartan Potassium/hydrochlorothiazide tablets.
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Tests of several of those medications exposed amounts of N-methylnitrosobutyric acid (NMBA) that were beyond the US Food and Drug Administration’s daily acceptable levels.
This recall is tied to the valsartan recall that has been expanded many times since July. As a result, separate lots of blood pressure medications from different companies were pulled from pharmacy shelves. According to CNN:
The medications all contained either valsartan, losartan or irbesartan and had traces of these impurities that pose a cancer risk to users. The FDA has begun testing all heart drugs called angiotensin II receptor blockers for these impurities. Also known as ARBs, they block a potent chemical in the blood called angiotensin that causes muscles surrounding blood vessels to contract. When the chemical binds, it narrows the vessels, and that can cause high blood pressure.
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What this recall includes:
This current expansion includes three additional lots of Losartan Potassium Tablets USP and two lots of Losartan Potassium/Hydrochlorothiazide Tablets, USP.
The FDA said in a new release:
Patients currently taking the medication should continue doing so “as the risk of harm to the patient’s health may be higher if the treatment is stopped immediately without any alternative treatment.”
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Even though it is not exactly clear what the cancer risk is of continuing to take the medication, the FDA believes that the risk was low with the recall of valsartan.
