MORE blood pressure pills recalled over carcinogenic fears

A fourth cycle of blood pressure pills has been recalled, fearing to be carcinogenic.

This initiative fits into a relentless struggle to eliminate drugs made in China and India, and shipped around the world, contaminated with NMBA, NMDA and NDEA – all potentially carcinogenic chemicals.

The scandal was kept secret for a year before the health authorities finally acknowledged the contamination – and that more than two million people had been exposed.

Once it broke out, it caused a worldwide shortage of the most commonly used antihypertensive medications – valsartan, irbesartan and losartan – which still hang around a year later.

On Thursday, Torrent Pharmaceuticals recalled 36 batches of losartan potbadium tablets and 68 batches of losartan / hydrochlorothiazide potbadium tablets for suspected NMBA contamination.

The global recall of drugs has dragged on for months, and others have been added on Thursday

Two weeks ago, the US Food and Drug Administration suggested to Americans to continue taking their possibly contaminated tablets, as there was no sign of imminent replacement.

And just as well, given the last reminder.

The issue has hit Europe hard too.

European regulators were the first to detect the contamination in the spring of 2018 and began to take steps to remove the offending supply. In the summer of 2018, the FDA followed suit.

Generic drug companies such as Mylan NV, Teva Pharmaceutical and Sandoz from Novartis have recalled products containing the contaminated ingredients.

It now appears that the FDA's own inspector raised concerns about contaminants and quality control in Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals Co. of China one year before any action was taken, the authorities dismissed the concerns, according to a statement by Bloomberg.

During the investigation that lasted several months, more and more drugs were added to the list of contaminated drugs.

In January, the FDA confirmed that another carcinogenic toxin, N-nitroso-N-methyl-4-aminobutyric acid (NMBA), had been identified in 87 batches of losartan potbadium pills manufactured in India.

Controlling for NDEA, NDMA and NMBA is complicated.

They seem to be a byproduct of chemical interactions, although it is not clear exactly which ones.

But regulators have been forced to find an alternative to bridge the gap that separates the growing number of patients requiring an angiotensin II receptor antagonist, or ARB, to treat high blood pressure.