--- title: FDA Recalls Drugs With Valsartan Due to Possible Carcinogens description: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalled some medicine with the generic drug valsartan due to an impurity that could cause cancer. canonical: https://time.com/5340730/fda-recalls-valsartan-medicine/ author: Jennifer Calfas article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-17T12:05:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:52:24.446Z article:section: Health og:title: Blood Pressure Medications Recalled Over Cancer Fears og:description: The FDA is investigating the issue og:url: https://time.com/5340730/fda-recalls-valsartan-medicine/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87341135448352aa/6989358a86f68ece886e9ab4/fda-recall-valsartan-drugs.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: pills og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Blood Pressure Medications Recalled Over Cancer Fears twitter:description: The FDA is investigating the issue twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87341135448352aa/6989358a86f68ece886e9ab4/fda-recall-valsartan-drugs.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 3 Companies Recall Blood Pressure Medications Over Cancer Fears by [Jennifer Calfas](/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Jul 17, 2018 12:05 PM CUT  Hands of African American woman holding prescription medicine Hands of African American woman holding prescription medicineJGI/Jamie Grill—Getty Images/Blend Images by [Jennifer Calfas](/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Jul 17, 2018 12:05 PM CUT Some drugs used to control high blood pressure and prevent heart failure were voluntarily recalled this past week due to an impurity that could possibly lead to cancer, [the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said](https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm613532.htm "undefined"). These products — with the active ingredient valsartan, a generic drug used to treat high blood pressure — may contain N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), a possible human carcinogen. The FDA asked three companies, Major Pharmaceuticals, Solco Healthcare and Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd., to recall their valsartan products. Solco and Teva were also asked to recall their drugs containing valsartan/hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ). “We have carefully assessed the valsartan-containing medications sold in the United States, and we’ve found that the valsartan sold by these specific companies does not meet our safety standards,” said Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in a statement. “This is why we’ve asked these companies to take immediate action to protect patients.” The FDA is now looking into the potential impacts the drugs have had on patients who have already taken them, as well as how to get rid of the impurity from future batches of these products. The agency advised patients taking the products to continue to do so until they have a suitable replacement. Companies impacted by the recall [have](https://www.majorpharmaceuticals.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Valsartan%5FRecall%5FMajor%5FPharm%5FPress%5FRelease%5FFinal%5F07132018.pdf "undefined") [shared](http://www.solcohealthcare.com/uploads/news/PressReleaseValsartanRecallFinal.pdf "undefined") instructions for patients impacted by these products. The FDA also said patients should talk to their pharmacists and doctors who prescribed the medicine to discuss their next steps. Earlier this year, the European Medicines Agency [announced](http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/news%5Fand%5Fevents/news/2018/07/news%5Fdetail%5F002984.jsp&mid=WC0b01ac058004d5c1 "undefined") it was reviewing medicine with an active valsartan ingredient supplied by Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals, a China-based company, for the same reason. Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals supplied the three U.S.-based pharmaceutical companies with these products, [according to The New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/16/health/fda-blood-pressure-valsartan.html "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5340730/fda-recalls-valsartan-medicine/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5340730/fda-recalls-valsartan-medicine/"},"headline":"3 Companies Recall Blood Pressure Medications Over Cancer Fears","datePublished":"2018-07-17T12:05:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:52:24.446Z","description":"The FDA is investigating the issue","url":"https://time.com/5340730/fda-recalls-valsartan-medicine/","keywords":["medicine","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87341135448352aa/6989358a86f68ece886e9ab4/fda-recall-valsartan-drugs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Calfas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87341135448352aa/6989358a86f68ece886e9ab4/fda-recall-valsartan-drugs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"pills","caption":"pills","creditText":"JGI/Jamie Grill—Getty Images/Blend Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/medicine/","name":"medicine"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5340730/fda-recalls-valsartan-medicine/","name":"3 Companies Recall Blood Pressure Medications Over Cancer Fears"}}]}] ```