Caring, Personal Help After
A Serious Personal Injury

FDA confirms increased cancer risk for Valsartan users

| May 17, 2019 | Medical Product Liability

This blog has on several previous occasions reported medical product liability issues with the blood pressure drug valsartan. Several recalls over the past several months have called the safety of the drug in to question, as quantities manufactured overseas have been discovered to include impurities that could cause cancer.

The federal Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, recently published exactly how much of two impurities, commonly referred to as NDMA and NDEA, the agency discovered in the course of testing this drug. The FDA checked levels of these two carcinogens from products manufactured at several different locations.

Perhaps of greater concern, the FDA issued predictions regarding how much more likely it is for patients who took Valsartan to develop cancer. For those patients who ingested NDMA, of 8,000 people who were using 320 milligrams of Valsartan over the course of four years, 1 person would develop cancer. When it comes to NDEA, the number was 1 out of 18,000 people.

The good news in all of this is that the chances of developing cancer after taking contaminated Valsartan are relatively small. However, they are not non-existent and if a patient does develop cancer, there is almost a 100 percent likelihood of their having to undergo painful medical treatments. Long-term disability and even death are possible outcomes.

Georgia patients who have used Valsartan should follow the instructions from any recalls and should ask their doctors if they have any questions or concerns. Developing cancer after taking Valsartan is a real risk.