Teva Pulls Recalls More Losartan

Drug Losartan recalled

UNITED STATES – Teva Pharmaceuticals has pulled several lots of Losartan off the market due to contamination with a probable carcinogenic substance. Testing of six bulk lots of the drug showed that it contained unsafe levels of a substance that can potentially cause cancer.

Losartan is a widely prescribed drug for high blood pressure, left ventricular hypertrophy and nephropathy. The drug is an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) manufactured by Teva, among other drug companies. Teva recently learned that multiple batches of its losartan contained a substance called N-Nitro-N-methyl-4-aminobutyric acid (NMBA), which has been classified as a probable human carcinogen.

This recall, which has been voluntarily initiated by Teva, represents the first in several weeks since an onslaught of ARB recalls began. Many of those recalls dealt with losartan and were initiated by the drug companies Camber Pharmaceuticals, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, and Legacy Pharmaceutical Packing. Teva also had a previously recall of the drug in which it took 35 lots off of the market due to detection of NMBA.

The new recall is an expansion to six additional bulk lots of losartan manufactured by Teva. The lots include losartan tablets in both 50 mg and 100 mg doses. They were sent to Golden State Medical Supply and then distributed to retailers in bottles of 30-, 90-, and 1,000-pill quantities. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the expanded recall and posted all of the lot numbers included.

The FDA says patients who have been prescribed losartan should check to see if their medications are included in the recall and contact their doctors. Patients should not stop taking their medications without consulting with their doctors.