The valsartan pills are suspected of containing cancer-causing impurities
Taiwan News
Date: 2018/08/02
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Chinese valsartan pills to reduce blood pressure might contain cancer-causing elements, says the FDA. (By Central News Agency)
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Four brands of drugs made in China and supposed to lower blood pressure were removed from shelves in Taiwan because they were suspected of containing cancer-causing ingredients, the Central News Agency reported Thursday.
The questions about the drugs began last month, when types of valsartan produced in China by Huahai Pharmaceutical (華海製藥公司), based in the province of Zhejiang, were questioned. Thursday’s report by the Food and Drug Administration named similar pills produced by Rundu Pharma (潤都製藥公司) in Zhuhai, in the province of Guangdong.
According to the order to remove the drugs from sale Thursday, a total of more than 24 million pills might be affected, CNA reported.
While research in the European Union brought the presence of potentially carcinogenous NDMA to light in the Huahai products, it was a Taiwanese investigation which uncovered the same element in the pills made by Rundu. [FULL STORY]
