A new potentially carcinogenic impurity was detected in the widely used blood pressure medication Losartan, the FDA said.
Hetero Labs in India has issued a recall of 87 lots of losartan potassium tablets because they contain the impurity, N-Nitroso-N-methyl-4-aminobutyric acid. This is the first recall resulting from the presence of NMBA.
The impurity is a known animal carcinogen, and may cause cancer in humans.
Hetero Labs' losartan is packaged and sold by Camber Pharmaceuticals in the U.S.
This is the third impurity found in generic blood pressure medications. The first impurity was detected in the blood pressure drug valsartan in July, which started a string of recalls.
Read the full news release here.