Pfizer Inc. said on Monday it was recalling some lots of blood pressure drug Accuretic and two authorized cheaper versions of the drug due to the presence of elevated levels of a nitrosamine, a potential cancer-causing impurity.
Pfizer said it has not received any reports of adverse events related to the drug till date.
Nitrosamines are common in water and foods, including cured and grilled meats, dairy products and vegetables. Exposure to the impurities above acceptable levels over long periods of time could increase the risk of cancer.
However, there is no immediate risk to patients taking the drug, Pfizer said.
Patients currently taking the products should consult with their doctor about alternative treatment options, the drugmaker said.
Pfizer Canada earlier this month recalled Accuretic due to the presence of the same impurity.
Last year, the drugmaker also recalled its anti-smoking treatment, Chantix, due to high levels of a nitrosamine in the pills.
Pfizer recalls some lots of blood pressure drug due to potential carcinogen
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Pfizer recalls some lots of blood pressure drug due to potential carcinogen
- Pfizer said it has not received any reports of adverse events related to the drug till date
UN chief calls on Israel to reverse NGOs ban in Gaza
- In November, authorities in Gaza said more than 70,000 people had been killed there since the war broke out
- Israel on Thursday suspended 37 foreign humanitarian organizations from accessing the Gaza Strip after they had refused to share lists of their Palestinian employees with government officials
UNITED NATIONS, United States: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Friday for Israel to end a ban on humanitarian agencies that provided aid in Gaza, saying he was “deeply concerned” at the development.
Guterres “calls for this measure to be reversed, stressing that international non-governmental organizations are indispensable to life-saving humanitarian work and that the suspension risks undermining the fragile progress made during the ceasefire,” his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
“This recent action will further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians,” he added.
Israel on Thursday suspended 37 foreign humanitarian organizations from accessing the Gaza Strip after they had refused to share lists of their Palestinian employees with government officials.
The ban includes Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which has 1,200 staff members in the Palestinian territories — the majority of whom are in Gaza.
NGOs included in the ban have been ordered to cease their operations by March 1.
Several NGOS have said the requirements contravene international humanitarian law or endanger their independence.
Israel says the new regulation aims to prevent bodies it accuses of supporting terrorism from operating in the Palestinian territories.
On Thursday, 18 Israel-based left-wing NGOs denounced the decision to ban their international peers, saying “the new registration framework violates core humanitarian principles of independence and neutrality.”
A fragile ceasefire has been in place since October, following a deadly war waged by Israel in response to Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
In November, authorities in Gaza said more than 70,000 people had been killed there since the war broke out.
Nearly 80 percent of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged by the war, according to UN data, leaving infrastructure decimated.
About 1.5 million of Gaza’s more than two million residents have lost their homes, said Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza.
