Cancer Fears Have Triggered Blood Pressure Drug Recalls for Months. Now Patients Are ‘Leery’

Cynthia Brown had been taking the drug valsartan for about two years when she learned last August that it had been recalled over fears of potential carcinogen contamination. Brown, a writer and patient advocate living near Cincinnati, had been prescribed valsartan to control shortness of breath related to primary pulmonary hypertension, but suddenly she had a whole new concern: cancer. “I’ve always been very conscientious about my health. I never dreamed I’d be on all these medications, and I’m real funny about what I take,” Brown, 65, says. “Valsartan has made me leery of all medications.” Brown is just one of the patients affected by a string of drug recalls dating back to last summer. Dozens of batches of generic drugs including valsartan, irbesartan and losartan have been recalled by a variety of manufacturers because they may contain amounts of nitrosamine impurities that exceed current safety standards, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced. Nitrosamine impurities including N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and N-Nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA), which are also sometimes found in meat, dairy products, vegetables and water, are considered probable carcinogens, the FDA says. Valsartan, irbesartan and losartan are angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), which are commonly used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure. Almost 50 million prescriptions for losartan were written in 2016, according to ClinCalc, as well as 8.4 m...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Drugs healthytime Source Type: news