Harvard Heart Letter
Lessons from the blood pressure drug recall
Here’s what you need to know about the discovery of contaminants in a popular class of heart medications. Last summer, a number of prescription medications containing the generic drug valsartan were recalled by manufacturers after investigators found trace amounts of possible cancer-causing impurities in some of the products. Over the following months, additional lots of valsartan, as well as batches of two similar drugs, losartan and irbesartan, were also pulled from pharmacy