Abu Dhabi: The health authority has withdrawn two UAE-manufactured brands of blood pressure medicine following laboratory reports that confirmed the tablets’ carcinogenic ingredients.
The Department of Health in Abu Dhabi issued a circular to all health care facilities and practitioners to remove all supplies of Arbitense 50 and 100mg Losartan Potassium tablet from shelves.
The medicines were manufactured by the Abu Dhabi based company Neopharma LLC.
According to laboratory reports, the two products exceeded the acceptable limit of N-Nitroso-N-methyl-4-aminobutyric acid – a known animal and potential human carcinogen.
The health authority also issued a decision to suspend the registration and withdraw all batches of Irbesartan tablets of 75mg, 150mg and 300mg, based on a circular issued by the Saudi Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The circular was based on reports of international organisations that indicated that the blood pressure medication might contain ingredients categorised as “potentially carcinogenic”.
Pharmacies were instructed to remove all batches of affected medicines from their store and return the products back to the supplier.
