You should know that one pharmaceutical company is voluntarily recalling medication for blood pressure after discovering that it has trace amounts of a chemical that causes cancer.
You see, Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited announced that they recalled 2 lots of Losartan potassium tablets on the website of the Food and Drug Administration.
You should know that in 2016, around 60 million prescriptions were written for losartan medications. These medications contain trace amounts of NDEA (N-nitroso diethylamine.)
That is a substance that happens naturally in some foods, industrial processes, drinking water, and air pollution. It has been classified as a human carcinogen by IARC, i.e., the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
According to research, NDEA can lead to cell damage in the blood and the liver. You see, NDEA is used to produce rocket fuel. Also, as we earlier mentioned it could be found in drinking water and foods, but this is only in small, low levels.
In addition, it might be created as a byproduct of industrial processes and chemical reactions.
This medication the name Losartan is used to treat nephropathy in those patients with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and hypertensive patients who have left ventricular hypertrophy.
Those patients who take Losartan might keep on taking their medication because the risk of harm to the health of the patient might be bigger if they instantly stop the treatment without having another alternative treatment.
The officials said that patients need to contact their doctor or pharmacist who will advise them about a possible alternative treatment before returning their drugs.
The recalled products are listed below, and they are packaged in bottles. You can recognize the product by seeing its name, lot number on the bottle, and manufacturer details.
What Is the Risk of Getting Cancer from the Drug?
According to the FDA, the risk is minimal. One other drug for blood pressure was recalled: valsartan. The amount of NDMA present in the recalled medication exceeds the acceptable levels. Based on the record from the medication manufacturers the impurity might have been in these products for four years. The estimations of the Food and Drug Administration note that in the case around 8,000 individuals took the highest dose of this medication, that is 320 mg, from recalled batches every single day for four years, there would be one extra case of cancer over the life of those individuals. For context, one in three individuals in America will be diagnosed with cancer during their life. According to one expert, the recalls are making it harder to find valsartan medications that haven’t been recalled. Also, the expert says that certain blood pressure medications that are not on the recall list have increased their price because of the demand spikes. To find out more, just check the FDA website. Source: nbc4i | FDA
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