TRADE: Blood pressure drug recalls: FDA inspection reports reveal problems even before the cancer-causing impurities were found. “FDA inspections of factories in China and India that made carcinogen-tainted ingredients that forced dozens of recalls of blood pressure drugs in recent months show a history of problems. Drug companies recalled dozens of lots of the front-line blood pressure and heart medications valsartan, losartan and irbesartan – alone or in combination with other drugs – after testing revealed the drugs had cancer-causing impurities in trace amounts. The Food and Drug Administration is investigating the underlying causes of the impurities. The federal agency hasn’t completed its inquiry, but inspection reports reveal problems at both factories – Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical in China and Hetero Labs in India – before the carcinogen-tainted drugs were discovered.”