A man from Ohio recently filed a class action valsartan cancer lawsuit, alleging he bought defective and contaminated medications that put him in danger of developing cancer.

According to the class action valsartan cancer lawsuit, the defective medications in question were contaminated with NDMA during the manufacturing process.

Plaintiff Dennis K. filed a valsartan cancer lawsuit as a class action soon after discovering other patients had bought these medications that were allegedly apart of the recent FDA recall.

The valsartan recall was announced by the FDA in July 2018, which asked three manufacturers of generic valsartan to voluntarily recall their medications from the United States.

In this recall, pharmacists were asked to take affected valsartan medication stocks out of their inventories and return them to their respective manufacturers. These specific generic valsartan strains were reportedly contaminated by NDMA during the manufacturing process at Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical Co. in China.

Dennis says that even though these valsartan batches may not be safe for patients to ingest, the drugs were still sold the general public for quite sometime before the recall, according to the valsartan cancer lawsuit. Dennis says that he and other Class Members who purchased the affected valsartan medications for typical treatment purposes were harmed by the worthless, contaminated drug.

According to the class action valsartan cancer lawsuit, Dennis purchased the medications between Oct. 31, 2017 and July 3, 2018. In each occasion, Dennis only paid a small co-payment of $5.00, which is considerably cheaper than the brand name version of the medication, Diovan.

Dennis says that he and other class members opted for generic valsartan based on the price, and the generic was touted as just as effective as Diovan.

Overview of Valsartan NDMA Contamination

Valsartan is part of the angiotensin II receptor agonist drug family, which works by easing up constriction in the blood vessels allowing for smoother circulation.

Valsartan is often prescribed to treat a variety of cardiovascular conditions including hypertension, heart failure, and myocardial infarction. However, the announcement of NDMA contamination has left many patients and medical professionals concerned about potential carcinogenic consequences.

NDMA is a yellow oil substance that is often a byproduct of an industrial manufacturing process, and is known for having carcinogenic properties. This means the substance can potentially cause cancer development in patients. NDMA contamination has reportedly affected valsartan medication stocks since at least 2012.

The alleged NDMA contamination was announced to the public in May 2018, when the European Medicines Agency announced that certain stocks of valsartan medications were affected.

The affected valsartan medications were reportedly sourced from Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals, with FDA authorities visiting the company in May 2017. The FDA announced that authorities found that the company had not implemented “appropriate controls… to ensure the integrity of analytical testing.” The FDA investigators also found that Zhejiang Huahai had reportedly disregarded sampling “anomalies suggestive of impurities.”

The FDA had announced a voluntary recall of the affected valsartan stocks in July 13, 2018, recalling stocks as early as October 2015. It is important to note that not all generic valsartan medications are affected by the FDA recall, and patients should check with their pharmacy to determine whether their medication was affected.

This Valsartan Cancer Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-cv-16067, in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey.