A new wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey which alleges the deceased plaintiff expired from valsartan cancer.

The valsartan cancer legal complaint was registered by spouse and secondary plaintiff Sandra M. She is expected to be the legal representative and heir of the estate of Ronald M. Both husband and wife were residents of Kenner, La.

The Drug and Subsequent Illness

According to the lawsuit, Ronald M. ingested generic valsartan to treat high blood pressure for close to a year on the behest of his physician. The treatment dates were approximately November 2016 to October 2017.

The medication was allegedly manufactured by the named defendants in this case which include Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, Prinston Pharmaceutical Inc., dba Solco Healthcare US LLC, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Actavis LLC, and Huahai US Inc.

At least some of the high blood pressure treatment drugs the plaintiff ingested were part of a recall issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on July 13, 2018.

The lawsuit indicates that Ronald M. was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in August 2018. The disease allegedly spread to his liver, and he passed away from its effects a little over a month later.

The Nature of the Recall

The July recall of certain lots of was due to the detected presence of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) found during extensive laboratory examination. NDMA is classified as a “probable human carcinogen” and believed to be present in the drugs as a result of manufacturing process changes.

As indicated by a WebMD article published Sept. 13, 2018—two months after the initial recall—a study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) presented a positive outlook. The study involving Danish patients who had been exposed to valsartan NDMA claimed they did not appear more likely than other people to develop cancer in the near future.

Nevertheless, the same report said co-researcher Dr. Kasper Kristensen of the University of Southern Denmark’s public health department has expressed a certain amount of caution. He apparently believes it is premature to say those that have ingested the chemical in valsartan drugs are completely free of concern. There is little evidence to rule out the contamination’s influence on long-term risk of cancer development.

Lawsuit Allegations

The wrongful death lawsuit makes claim that had the decedent known of the drug’s contamination and illegal mislabeling, he would have made other choices. Because of the alleged omission of information, Sandra claims Ronald M. suffered irredeemable injuries to his body which ultimately resulted in his death. He allegedly incurred massive economic damage as well in pursuit of cancer treatment from diagnosis to the unfortunate conclusion.

On behalf of his estate and herself, plaintiff Sandra M. alleges manufacturing defect, design defect, failure to warn, negligence, negligence per se, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and violation of state consumer protection laws.

The Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical Co Lawsuit is Case No. 1:19-cv-16209-RBK-JS in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Camden Vicinage