Antihypertensive: Hundreds of thousands of people reportedly taking anti-cancer drugs

Up to 900,000 patients nationwide, according to a newspaper article, could have taken the only blood pressure in the previous year that was contaminated with a substance potentially carcinogenic. This comes out of a federal government response to a request from the Greens, reported on the "Tagesspiegel" Berlin.

Blood pressure lowering drugs are drugs with the active ingredient valsartan. He found a suspected carcinogen byproduct called nitrosodimethylamine, which was considered potentially carcinogenic by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Nitrosodimethylamine and other nitrosamines can be found in cigarette smoke, grilled meat, dried meat and in drinking water. In rodents, the carcinogenic effect could be detected because the man is still absent.

In early July, regulators in Europe ordered a sell-off and a precautionary recall for many of these drugs. Previously, the contamination of the potentially carcinogenic valsartan drug produced by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals was discovered in 1969. In 2017, about nine million drugs containing valsartan were prescribed to the detriment of public health insurance, said the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Health. Weiss, according to "Tagesspiegel" with. "With approximately 40% of the batches affected by the recall, approximately 900,000 patients may be affected by the above mentioned requirements."

According to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), there is "no acute risk to health". However, the Greens in the Bundestag have criticized the treatment of the authorities on this subject: the statement of the EMA calm little, said the group's pharmaceutical expert, Kordula Schulz-ash, the newspaper. After all, the drugs have been contaminated for six years, and long-term use risks have not yet been badessed.

Bremen pharmacologist Gerd Glaeske called for "a more intensive control network". In order to avoid quality defects, legislators must require reliable product testing from generic drug distributors. Sickness funds can at any time prove purchase and generic certificates in their offers.

Authorities advise people to switch to safe medications. According to the Federal Institute of Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) Bonn, patients should consult their doctor or pharmacist on the remedies affected by the booster. In no case should the medication be interrupted without consulting the doctor.