New valsartan combination drugs have been added to a recall list over fears that they may contain a cancer-causing contaminant.

The FDA has recently added more medications to a list of valsartan drugs recalled in July 2018. The newly recalled drugs are valsartan combination drugs, meaning that they contain both valsartan and other drugs.

Valsartan is a generic drug used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure. In July 2018, the FDA recalled certain batches of valsartan produced by Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals in China, over concerns that the drug had been contaminated by N-nitrosodimethylamine, or NDMA.

NDMA is considered by the Environmental Protection Agency to be a possible carcinogen, meaning that the agency believes that the substance can cause cancer in humans.

According to the FDA, NDMA was introduced accidentally into valsartan during the manufacturing process because of certain chemical reactions. The Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals stated that the contamination resulted after a change in manufacturing procedures. However, Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals has been put on an important alert because of the contamination problem, so drugs and other pharmaceutical products produced by the company are not currently permitted to enter the U.S.

Though experts had hoped that the problem was relatively contained and was stopped after the Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals reportedly corrected their manufacturing process problems, experts now report that other drugs containing valsartan that were produced in Mylan, India, may have also been contaminated by NDMA.

As a result of the possible Mylan contamination of the valsartan combination drugs, a range of new drugs has been recalled. In late November, Teva Pharmaceuticals, the makers of valsartan, announced that valsartan combination drugs in which valsartan was combined with amlodipine or both amlodipine and hydrochlorothiazide would be recalled.

Because of the possible contamination, valsartan and valsartan combination drugs have been recalled in 22 other countries around the world.

Happily, no illnesses have been reported over the contamination of the drugs, though the drugs have been possibly contaminated with NDMA for multiple years, meaning that many people could have been exposed to a dangerous contaminant.

In the wake of the announcement that valsartan combination drugs may have been contaminated with a dangerous carcinogen, Teva Pharmaceuticals has been hit with a number of lawsuits claimant at customers who took valsartan did not get what they thought they were buying when they purchased valsartan.

These lawsuits have alleged that valsartan was advertised as being therapeutically equivalent to Diovan, the name brand version of the drug. According to patients, Diovan was not contaminated, and valsartan was, so valsartan possibly did not perform as advertised and possessed a risk of cancer. For those reasons, patients say it was not therapeutically equivalent to Diovan.

Patients who took valsartan or valsartan combination drugs may be eligible to participate in other valsartan lawsuits. Though filing a lawsuit cannot repair the risks associated with taking a contaminated drug in the past, making a successful claim can help patients and their families gain monetary compensation for injuries done by taking the contaminated valsartan, whether those injuries be physical, emotional, or financial.