Hetero labs to recall drug batches after USFDA reports of cancer causing impurity

India's Hetero Labs Ltd is recalling some batches of a blood pressure drug because it contains a cancer-causing impurity, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday. Global authorities have been clamping down on sales of blood pressure medicines containing valsartan, losartan and irbesartan as they are suspected to be tainted with two probable carcinogens - N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) and N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA).

The latest toxin identified in 87 lots of Hetero's losartan potassium pills - N-Nitroso-N-methyl-4-aminobutyric acid (NMBA) - was not found in medicines that were previously recalled by a number of drugmakers.