Blood Pressure Medication Lawsuits: 2,000 Lawsuits Possible After Cancer-Causing Recalls

With several recalls for blood pressure medication issued over the last few months for a possible cancer-causing impurity, the manufacturers of these drugs may be facing upwards of 2,000 lawsuits over the next two years, Bloomberg reported.

The aftermath of the recalls has been significant as the news outlet said that “dozens” of lawsuits have been filed against the pharmaceutical companies that produce the blood pressure medication. One lawyer, Daniel Nigh, has filed 12 lawsuits himself already, telling the federal court that he anticipates that there will be around 2,000 more in the next two years.

The lawsuits are centered around Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical Co., which distributed the contaminated Valsartan as a blood pressure medication and as a cardiovascular treatment for patients, Bloomberg reported. Defendants CVS, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, and Mylan NV have also been named in the lawsuits along with another almost 40 other parties, the news outlet said.

“There’s a number of people who claim, I understand, that they’ve contracted cancer from taking this drug,” Senior U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler told lawyers present at a March 27 hearing. “It’s probably going to be a heavy lift to prove that, but, you know, we’ll see what happens.”

The recalls for these blood pressure medications have been expanded in over the last few months. Companies such as Legacy Pharmaceutical Packing, LLC, which announced an expanded recall this week, and Torrent Pharmaceutical, which expanded its recall to 104 lots of Losartan last week, have said that there is a higher risk of stopping the medication without an alternative treatment plan.

The recalled blood pressure medication was produced by the same Indian facility, Hetero Labs Limited and has trace amounts of N-methylnitrosobutric acid (NMBA), a possible human carcinogen. The numerous recalls for blood pressure medication started in November 2018 and included the drugs Losartan, Valsartan, and Irbesartan.

Camber Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has also recalled 87 lots of Losartan while Torrent has recalled 234 lots and Legacy another 4 lots of the blood pressure medication.