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Several heart medications and hypertension containing valsartan are being recalled because of a substance that can cause cancer.
Health Canada states that the drugs were supplied by Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals of China and that valsartan is used in the affected products. contains an impurity known as N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA).
NDMA is a potential carcinogen that could cause cancer with long-term exposure. The recall was issued by the manufacturers of several drugs involving five companies.
Drugs containing valsartan are used to treat high blood pressure and help prevent heart attacks and strokes. They are also used by patients who have had heart failure or a recent heart attack.
Health Canada says that patients taking the drug should consult their pharmacist to find out if their medication is being recalled.
Anyone taking drugs containing valsartan should continue to take them unless they have to stop by their doctor or pharmacist.
Nardine Nakhla, from the School of Pharmacy at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, pointed this out in CBC News.
"Patients should not stop taking their medications if they have valsartan unless their prescriber or pharmacist has specifically asked them to do so," Nakhla said. "Patients should contact their pharmacist to see if the medications they are taking are actually the recalled valsartan products and the pharmacist can then find other medications that are not affected by the recall."
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