What should you do if your blood pressure medication has been recalled?

Over the past several months, you may have heard that the FDA has recalled certain lots of angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) medications due to the presence of impurities. These contaminants — nitrosamine impurities — may occur as a byproduct of the manufacturing process. They include N-Nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) and N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), which can potentially cause cancer. These substances are found in the environment as well in meats, dairy products, and water, but their presence in medications is not acceptable. Therefore, the FDA sets acceptable safety limits on the presence of these impurities in drugs. Which blood pressure medications are affected? ARBs have been in use since the 1990s and are still widely used today. They effectively lower blood pressure, and also reduce deaths and complications related to heart failure and chronic kidney disease associated with diabetes. The ARBs potentially affected by the current recall include losartan (Cozaar), valsartan (Diovan, Prexxartan), and irbesartan (Avapro), for which 61 million prescriptions were written in the US in 2016 alone. These also include some combination tablets that contain valsartan or irbesartan. The issue of contamination was first brought to light in 2018. A company in China that supplies active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to drug manufacturers that make ARB medications informed the FDA that nitrosamine impurities were present in ingredients used to make valsartan. Subsequently, othe...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Drugs and Supplements Health Hypertension and Stroke Source Type: blogs