Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is recalling five batches of its hypertension drug Accupril after it was found to contain chemicals that can cause cancer.
The recall comes after research found that batches of the drug contained increased levels of a cancer-causing agent, nitrosamine. It was announced on March 22 and involves five batches of pills, each containing 90 bottles.
Pfizer says those bottles may have been split into smaller prescriptions, and has urged any doctor or pharmacist who dealt with the shipments in question to contact them immediately.
The drugs were distributed in the United States and Puerto Rico between December 2019 and April 2022, a Pfizer news release said.
In the statement, Pfizer described the recall as ‘voluntary.’
The bottles come with 90 pills and are prescribed in 10mg, 20mg and 40mg increments. The number of pills per bottle can be broken down into smaller amounts.
In Canada, Pfizer had already announced a similar recall after finding the same impurity to be above acceptable levels.
A statement from the Canadian government said that people ingesting nitrosamine at the acceptable level or below for 70 years are ‘not expected to have an increased risk of cancer.’