Recall of blood pressure drug Losartan widened 5th time amid carcinogen tainting
The maker of Losartan has widened a recall of the generic blood pressure medicine for the fifth time, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which warned that some pills may be tainted with a cancer-causing substance.
Torrent Pharmaceuticals is expanding a voluntary initiative to include five additional lots of tablets (three lots of losartan potassium tablets and two lots of losartan potassium/hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) combination tablets) that may contain N-Methylnitrosobutyric acid, or NMBA, the regulator said.
The first recall of the medicine, in January, was linked to a different carcinogen, N-nitrosodiethylamine, which occurs naturally in certain foods, drinking water, air pollution, and industrial processes.
People taking the medicine shouldn't stop without consulting their doctor or pharmacist about a replacement, the FDA warned. Doing so may worsen their hypertension, which can damage kidneys and lead to heart attacks and strokes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Drugs like losartan are considered "angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs)," which help improve blood flow in the body.