Heart, blood pressure drugs recall slammed

A recall of a blood pressure and heart medicine used by over 60,0000 Irish patients has “caused consternation”, with pharmacists inundated with patient requests for alternatives at a time when the supply of unaffected medicines is constrained.

Kerry TD and pharmacist John Brassil, who has a pharmacy in Ballyheigue, said yesterday was dominated by a stream of patients to his premises seeking an alternative to the recalled medicines which contain the active ingredient valsartan. The impurity N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), a probable carcinogen, was found in the manufacturing process in a valsartan active substance at a plant in China.

He said each patient query took around 20 minutes to deal with and that about 30 patients came to his pharmacy yesterday worried that their blood pressure or heart failure medicine was causing them harm.