Heart Drug Recall Expanded Again

(CNN) — The recall of popular heart drugs has expanded yet again. The US Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that Torrent Pharmaceuticals has added eight additional lots of losartan potassium tablets to its recall list. Losartan potassium is a drug used to control high blood pressure. It is also used to treat kidney disease in patients with diabetes. This recall includes 30-, 90- and 1,000-count bottles of 100-milligram tablets; 30-, 90- and 1,000-count bottles of 50-milligram tablets; and 90-count bottles of 25-milligram tablets. Torrent is recalling only these particular losartan potassium tablets. Tests found that the drugs contained trace amounts of N-nitrosodiethylamine, or NDEA, that were above the interim acceptable intake level. Recalled heart pills (Image credit: FDA/CNN) Aurobindo Pharma USA also recalled two lots of its valsartan tablets, 26 lots of amlodipine and valsartan combination tablets, and 52 lots of valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide combination tablets due to trace amounts of NDEA found in the valsartan ingredient in those pills. Those drugs are used to control high blood pressure and to treat heart failure. N-nitrosodiethylamine is a suspected human and animal carcinogen that is used in gasoline and as a lubricant additive, according to the National Institutes of Health. The ingredient in the tainted losartan potassium pills was made by Hetero Labs Ltd., based in India. That company has had manufacturing problems; it received a warning lette...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health News CNN Recall Valsartan Source Type: news