The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday announced that Indian drugmaker Hetero Labs is recalling 87 lots of losartan tablets distributed by Camber Pharmaceuticals after testing found the drugs contained a potentially carcinogenic impurity, N-Nitroso-N-methyl-4 aminobutyric acid (NMBA).   The recall is the latest in a series of recalls tied to the discovery of nitrosamine impurities in angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) drugs in the last year.   Previ...

A bipartisan group of lawmakers who serve on the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce (E&C) sent a letter to US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Wednesday to request a briefing on the sartan safety issues that prompted a string of recalls worldwide. “Beginning in July 2018, there have been at least 15 recalls issued for a variety of angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB), which are generally used to treat high blood pressure,” the E...

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced Monday low levels of a probable human carcinogen have been detected in a third sartan made the second India-based company—Aurobindo Pharma—to have been linked to the international valsartan scandal.   The notice follows on the heels of the EMA’s decision to extend its review to include medicines containing an additional four sartans, with the one impacted by the suspension of Aurobindo Pharma’s European certificate of s...

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) issued a statement of noncompliance to a Zhejiang Huahai valsartan manufacturing site in China while the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) placed it on import alert Friday in their ongoing investigations into probable human carcinogens.   The actions are part of an international effort among regulatory authorities to address the drug safety issue that led to recalls of medicines containing valsartan produced in bulk by Zhejiang...