Recall alert: Macleods Pharmaceuticals Limited pulls blood pressure drug over possible carcinogens found

Macleods Pharmaceuticals Limited is recalling 32 lots of the drug losartan after finding trace amounts of a possible carcinogen.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says long term use could possibly lead to cancer. No reports of any adverse effects from using the drug so far. Maclouds also recalled one lot of losartan in February for the same reason.

The FDA says the active ingredient was made by Hetero Labs Limited in India, which is one of several overseas drug factories linked to repeated blood medication recalls since last July.

The FDA says patients should consult with their doctors before stopping use of the recalled medication as that could cause more immediate harm than staying on the medication.

Here is a list of the affected medications. All of these are packaged in bottles and can be identified by checking the details which should be listed on the bottles:

Losartan Potassium Tablets 50 mg:

BLl711A, BLl710A, November 2019

Losartan Potassium and Hydrochlorothiazide Tablets 50 mg/ 12.5 mg:

BLK719A, BLK720A, BLK721A, BLK722A, BLK723A, BLK724A, September 2019
BLK725A, BLK726A, October 2019
BLK804A, BLK806A, January 2020
BLK825A, BLK826A, October 2021

Losartan Potassium and Hydrochlorothiazide Tablets 100 mg/ 12.5 mg:

BLM716A, BLM717A, July 2019
BLM719A, BLM720A, August 2019
BLM721A, BLM722A, September 2019
BLM723A, BLM724A, BLM725A, October 2019
BLM726A, November 2019
BLM802A, BLM803A, December 2019
BLM825A, BLM826A, BLM827A, September 2021