A risk of valsartan medicine contamination has patients worried for their health.

Valsartan is a blood pressure medication that was recently the subject of a scandal in the medical community. In August, batches of the drug were recalled because they had possibly been contaminated by a probable carcinogen.

Unfortunately, the potential contamination had possibly been going on for years when the recall was announced, meaning that many patients may have been exposed to a dangerous chemical.

According to Time’s report on the issue on January 30 of this year, dozens of batches of valsartan medicine were possibly contaminated with two Nitrosamine impurities — N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and N-Nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA). These two chemicals are considered by the FDA to be probable human carcinogens.

USA Today reported that the contamination occurred at manufacturing plants in China and India, according to the FDA. Reportedly, one significant contamination occurred at a Chinese plant that had undergone a change in its manufacturing processes which had accidentally exposed the medicine to the possible carcinogens. 

Happily, the danger to human health is fairly low, according to the FDA. The FDA reports at is 8,000 took the maximum daily dose of valsartan over four years, there would only be one case of cancer in those 8,000 patients.

Still, many patients are worried about their health, especially because the contamination did occur over a four year period. CNN provided a list of the batches and types of valsartan medicine that may have been contaminated. 

If patients do want to switch from their valsartan medication to another alternative, they should do so only under the supervision of a doctor. Happily, there are many alternatives to valsartan on the market, so should a patient want to switch, they will likely have plenty of options to help them manage their blood pressure or heart burn.

Additionally, many patients are wondering how the problem could have gone unchecked for so long. Did the drug companies not sufficiently test the drugs before releasing them into the market? Were the manufacturers negligent in their processes? Did the drug companies know of the problem and intentionally fail to tell patients, the government, and medical professionals?

Dr. G. Caleb Alexander, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness, encourages patients not to panic over the issue, saying that “this is the exception rather than the norm.” He told Time that “for every one of these market events, think of all of the tens and millions of prescriptions that are dispensed uneventfully. Our pharmaceutical supply chain is remarkably safe in the United States, and these are very rare events.”

Still, patients have already filed lawsuits against the makers of valsartan, claiming that the makers exposed patients to cancer risks. Other patients have filed lawsuits simply claiming that they were financially injured because when they bought the contaminated valsartan, they allegedly weren’t getting the drug they were advertised.

In fact, some of these valsartan medicine lawsuits are class action lawsuits, aiming to hold the drug makers liable for widespread injury allegedly done to patients who took valsartan over the course of the possible contamination.