Yet another lot of the blood pressure drug losartan has been recalled, which is sent by Legacy Pharmaceutical Packaging to Kroger Co. pharmacies, because it contained a possible carcinogen.
Legacy Pharmaceutical Packaging, a privately held contract pharmaceutical packaging company located in Missouri, packages bulk pharmaceuticals from pharma companies and offers the finished product to retailers such as Kroger Co.
Last week, Torrent Pharmaceuticals recalled 104 lots of the blood pressure drug that were tainted with the nitrosamine impurity, a cancer-causing agent.
The packaging company recalled a lot of 50 mg losartan potassium tablets in 30-count bottles, including the three lots of the same drug that was recalled in March. Legacy said it would notify retailers and customers in writing about the recall along with the instructions on how to return the drug.
Ohio-based Kroger Co., Cincinnati, operates more than 2,200 pharmacies at grocery stores.
Pharma companies have recalled hundreds of lots of the blood pressure medications – valsartan, losartan, and irbesartan – since July after the FDA found that they were tainted with small amounts of suspected carcinogens. These drugs belong to a large class of therapeutic agents called angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), which reduce or control blood pressure by widening or relaxing the blood vessels. Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it would allow certain lots of the blood pressure drug losartan that were tainted with possible carcinogens in order to overcome shortages. The agency said if patients are unable to get the new untainted drug in time to treat their hypertension, heart failure or kidney disease, there is a greater risk. So, it temporarily allowed patients to use the tainted pills until they get the fresh supply.
