Carcinogen found in Popular Diabetes Drug
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Diabetes medication metformin contains a substance known to be a human carcinogen, according to askhealthnews.com. Metformin, which is the generic name of the popular diabetes medication, contains high levels of N-nitrosodimethylamine, also known as NDMA, which is widely considered to be a dangerous carcinogenic substance in humans according to newsmax.com. The online pharmacy Valisure tested samples of metformin and found excessively high amounts of NDMA. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, did not reach the same conclusions. The FDA claims, surprisingly, that everyone consumes small amounts of NDMA every day in a variety of foods. Additionally, the FDA also suggested that low levels of NDMA in metformin are not harmful.
Valisure said, according to newsmax.com, that its researchers followed the precise protocols laid out by the FDA for testing. Interestingly, Valisure said that its scientists fine-tuned the tests to make them more precise. However, Valisure’s chief executive suggested that the difference between the two results could be explained by the manufacturing process between the two tested lots, the place where the medication was stored before testing and could have come from the drug internally.
Valilsure’s researchers suspect that the NDMA they found in the samples of metformin it tested came from the medication and not an outside source. This claim is further bolstered by the test samples came from eleven different drug companies and not just one. Valisure found that the metformin made by Amneal Pharmaceuticals tested positive for NDMA at levels sixteen times greater than levels deemed acceptable by the FDA.
Valisure has led the charge to persuade the FDA to recall metformin. Metformin is the fourth-most prescribed diabetes medication in the U.S. Therefore, people who are taking the drug have available alternatives. Moreover, the drug authority in Singapore and Canada also recalled the medication. NDMA has also appeared in blood pressure drugs valsartan and the antacid ranitidine.
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