Brigette Honaker  |  February 4, 2019

Category: Legal News

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

A woman monitors her blood pressure.Due to issues similar to the recent valsartan impurities, a drug company recently recalled some of their losartan potassium tablets.

Within the first week of 2019, according to USA Today, Torrent Pharmaceuticals added eight more lots of their losartan potassium tablets to an ongoing recall. Following these additions, a total of ten lots of losartan have been recalled by the pharmaceutical company. The recall was initiated due to concerns that the blood pressure medication may contain trace amounts of N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDMA), a human carcinogen.

Losartan is a medication used to treat high blood pressure and kidney problems associated with diabetes. The drug is part of the class known as angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) which includes medications such as valsartan. These drugs work by relaxing the blood vessel, allowing blood to flow more freely and reducing blood pressure.

In 2017, the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, and nine other groups implemented new guidelines based on the estimation that 103 million adults in America had high blood pressure. This estimate is an increase from the 72 million estimate the governed earlier standards.

Some individuals are able to manage their condition through lifestyle changes and exercise. An estimated 36 percent, however, need to be treated with drugs such as losartan and valsartan to manage their condition.

Valsartan has recently been in the news after valsartan impurities prompted extensive recalls from numerous pharmaceutical companies. Like the impurities associated with losartan, valsartan impurities can be traced to contamination of active ingredients at overseas manufacturing locations.

The issues with losartan reportedly originate from the active ingredient made by Hetero Labs, a manufacturer based in India. The problems with impurities in valsartan reportedly can be linked to contamination at Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals, an active ingredient manufacturer based in China.

Both locations reportedly use similar manufacturing processes when creating the active ingredients which may lead to the contamination by NDMA. Zhejiang Huahai reportedly made changes to their manufacturing process in 2012. If the new process is to blame for the contamination, tainted medications may have been on the market for several years before the issue was caught.

Although the idea of coming into contact with a known carcinogen may be frightening and stressful, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has urged patients not to make any changes to their medication without consulting with their doctor first.

“Patients who are on losartan should continue taking their medication, as the risk of harm to the patient’s health may be higher if the treatment is stopped immediately without any alternative treatment. Patients should contact their pharmacist or physician who can advise them about an alternative treatment prior to returning their medication,” the FDA said in their announcement.

The FDA is currently investigating how and why the contamination occurred and is working closely with drug manufacturers as they continue to recall affected products. The agency is also reviewing the levels of NDMA found in the affected lots in order to determine what risks patients may face and what steps can be taken to eliminate the contamination in the future.

If you developed cancer or severe liver damage after taking valsartan, you may benefit from joining a free valsartan lawsuit investigation. Fill out the FREE form on this page for more information.

Learn More

We tell you about cash you can claim EVERY WEEK! Sign up for our free newsletter.


Get Help – It’s Free

Join a Free Valsartan Lawsuit Investigation

If you qualify, an attorney will contact you to discuss the details of your potential case at no charge to you.

PLEASE NOTE: If you want to participate in this investigation, it is imperative that you reply to the law firm if they call or email you. Failing to do so may result in you not getting signed up as a client or getting you dropped as a client.

Oops! We could not locate your form.

Please note: Top Class Actions is not a settlement administrator or law firm. Top Class Actions is a legal news source that reports on class action lawsuits, class action settlements, drug injury lawsuits and product liability lawsuits. Top Class Actions does not process claims and we cannot advise you on the status of any class action settlement claim. You must contact the settlement administrator or your attorney for any updates regarding your claim status, claim form or questions about when payments are expected to be mailed out.