For roughly six years, some of the most commonly prescribed blood pressure pills in America contained chemicals that regulators classify as probable human carcinogens. Patients took them daily, exactly as directed, to protect their hearts and their kidneys. Nobody told them, because nobody had tested for it.
The contamination came from generic versions of valsartan, losartan, and irbesartan made largely at overseas plants, where manufacturing process changes created nitrosamine impurities that then accumulated in the finished pills. The FDA began announcing recalls in July 2018. By then, later testing showed the problem stretched back to about 2012. Some recalled valsartan was found to contain NDMA at many times the daily limit the FDA considers acceptable, taken every day, often for years.
Meyer Wilson Werning represents patients who developed cancer after taking these medications. Attorney Layne Hilton serves on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in this litigation, and on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in the Suboxone film dental injury lawsuits. This page explains what the contamination was, which claims are actually viable, and where this litigation stands, including a significant ruling that went against plaintiffs and that most competitor pages do not mention. If you currently take one of these medications, do not stop taking it. We explain why below. Whether the pills you took came from a recalled manufacturer is a separate question, and a free and confidential case review will answer it.
Who May Have a Claim
You may have a claim if all of the following are true.
- You took generic valsartan, losartan, or irbesartan between roughly 2012 and 2019, when contaminated batches were in distribution.
- Your medication came from a recalled manufacturer, which includes Zhejiang Huahai, Hetero Labs, Aurobindo, Vivimed, Torrent, Mylan, Teva, Solco, and others. Not every generic was contaminated, and this is the question that decides most cases.
- You took it for a meaningful period, generally at least six months and often considerably longer, since these claims rest on cumulative exposure.
- You were later diagnosed with cancer of a type associated with nitrosamine exposure.
Claims are also available where a family member died, brought by the estate or surviving family. The brand-name versions, Diovan, Cozaar, and Avapro, were not part of the recalls. If you took only brand-name medication, this litigation does not apply to you.
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What Was in These Pills
Nitrosamines are industrial byproducts. They turn up in rubber manufacturing, pesticide production, and processed food, and they have no business in a prescription medication. Three were found in these drugs: NDMA in valsartan, NDEA in valsartan and irbesartan, and NMBA in losartan. All three are classified as probable human carcinogens. Cancer from exposure to contaminants is also at the heart of the Camp Lejeune toxic water claims.
The FDA’s acceptable daily intake for NDMA is 0.096 micrograms. Testing of recalled valsartan found levels many multiples above that figure, with the most contaminated samples reported at well over 100 times the limit. A patient taking one pill a day for four years was accumulating that exposure continuously.
The contamination was traced largely to a manufacturing process change at a Chinese supplier that was among the world’s largest producers of valsartan active ingredient. The impurity was a predictable consequence of the chemistry involved, and plaintiffs allege that routine quality control testing either was not performed or was not properly analyzed. Plaintiffs have also sought sanctions against that manufacturer over allegations it destroyed discovery materials, which is itself part of the record now.
The Cancers at Issue
Claims in this litigation involve cancers of the liver, colon and rectum, stomach, kidney, prostate, bladder, lung, and esophagus, along with certain blood cancers. Liver cancer, specifically hepatocellular carcinoma, has been the most heavily litigated.
Population studies in Europe examining large groups of patients who took contaminated valsartan have reported associations with gastric and liver cancer, and courts in this litigation have allowed the general scientific evidence connecting NDMA to cancer to be presented. Getting that evidence admitted was a real victory. It also turned out not to be sufficient on its own, for reasons explained below.
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Why Product Identification Decides These Cases
This is the practical hurdle that ends more claims than anything else.
Generic drugs from many different manufacturers are dispensed under the same name. To bring a claim, you have to show which company made the pills you actually swallowed, and that the specific product was recalled. The court has established a formal process for this. Under Case Management Order No. 38, a defendant can serve a deficiency notice on any plaintiff who has named that manufacturer without documentary proof of use, and the plaintiff then has 30 days to produce the evidence or dismiss that defendant from the case. Identifying the generic manufacturer is just as central in the gabapentin and Lyrica dementia claims.
What satisfies this is documentary, not testimonial. Pharmacy dispensing records identifying the manufacturer or the national drug code, pill bottles you still have, insurance claim records, or pharmacy printouts. A memory of a white oval pill will not do it. If you filled prescriptions at a pharmacy that has since closed or changed ownership, say so immediately, because those records take time to chase and the clock is unforgiving.
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Where the Litigation Stands
Federal cases are consolidated as MDL No. 2875 in the District of New Jersey before Chief Judge Renee M. Bumb, established in February 2019, with Special Master Thomas Vanaskie managing much of the schedule. Roughly 1,400 personal injury cases were pending as of mid-2026.
The litigation has produced real plaintiff wins along the way. Courts rejected the manufacturers’ federal preemption arguments, permitted the general scientific evidence linking NDMA to cancer, and certified classes for economic loss, medical monitoring, and third-party payors. Six bellwether cases were selected in October 2024, and a second wave of four cases is in expert discovery now, with Judge Bumb having extended those deadlines.
There have been no jury verdicts in this MDL, and no personal injury settlement. A second wave of bellwether cases remains the next real test.
What the First Bellwether Revealed
The case never reached a jury. In November 2025, Chief Judge Bumb excluded the plaintiff’s only specific causation expert and granted summary judgment to the defendants. The problem was dose. The expert, a board-certified oncologist, could not articulate how much NDMA exposure is required to cause hepatocellular carcinoma, and without that, the court held her opinion that this plaintiff’s valsartan caused this plaintiff’s cancer was not scientific reasoning.
That distinction is the whole ballgame in pharmaceutical litigation. General causation asks whether a chemical can cause a cancer. Specific causation asks whether it caused yours, and it requires an expert who can connect a measurable exposure to your diagnosis and rule out the other explanations. Nitrosamine cases are hard here because exposure varied enormously by manufacturer, by lot, and by how long each patient took the product.
We are telling you this because you should understand what you are entering. It is not a reason to assume you have no case. Exposure evidence differs case by case, the expert record is developing, and the second bellwether wave will test different cancers and different proof.
The Settlements You May Have Read About
Three class action settlements totaling roughly $15.26 million have moved through approval in this litigation, allocated across the valsartan, irbesartan, and losartan manufacturers.
Those settlements resolve economic loss claims only. They compensate consumers and insurers for money paid for contaminated medication that should never have been sold, which typically amounts to a refund-scale recovery per person. They are not compensation for cancer. If you developed cancer, your claim is a personal injury claim and is being litigated separately.
What Strengthens a Claim
- Pharmacy records identifying the manufacturer, covering your full prescription history. This is the single most important document, and everything else is secondary to it.
- Any pill bottles or packaging you still have, which carry the lot number and manufacturer.
- Records establishing how long you took the medication, since cumulative exposure is central to the causation analysis.
- Complete oncology records, including the pathology, staging, treatment history, and the specialists’ notes.
- Your other risk factors, documented honestly. Family history, hepatitis status, smoking, and alcohol use will all be examined by the defense. Knowing them early makes a case stronger rather than weaker, because it lets your experts address them directly.
If You Currently Take One of These Medications
- Do not stop taking your blood pressure medication. Stopping abruptly can cause dangerous rebound increases in blood pressure and raises stroke risk. Uncontrolled hypertension is a far more immediate threat than the residual concern here.
- The recalled lots are long off the market. Recalls ran mainly through 2018 and 2019, and manufacturers now test for nitrosamine impurities. If you are taking valsartan today, you are almost certainly not taking a recalled product.
- Ask your pharmacist who made your medication, past and present. They can print your dispensing history, and it takes minutes.
- Raise any concerns with your prescriber, who can switch you to a different manufacturer or a different drug if that would give you peace of mind.
Contact a Contaminated Blood Pressure Medication Lawyer
If you took generic valsartan, losartan, or irbesartan for years and were later diagnosed with cancer, the question worth answering is who manufactured your pills, and that is usually a phone call to your pharmacy away.
Meyer Wilson Werning takes on pharmaceutical manufacturers and the distributors and retailers who put their products on the shelf. We will tell you honestly where your case stands, including when the proof problem is one we do not think can be solved. This litigation is harder than the advertising suggests, and you are better served by a firm that says so. Contact us by phone or through our online form for a free and confidential consultation.
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