Valsartan Recall: Tainted Heart Drugs Face Lawsuits Over Cancer

Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against drug makers and sellers over widely prescribed generic heart medications tainted with potential carcinogens, the first claims in what some lawyers expect to be a wave of litigation.

Valsartan made by Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical has been recalled as part of a wider FDA effort to remove heart pills tainted with a potentially cancer-causing agent from the U.S. market.

Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Millions of Americans have taken the drugs, which are at the center of a widening recall being overseen by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and have been for decades used to treat high blood pressure, heart failure and other common conditions.

A lawyer involved in an effort to combine about 50 lawsuits, including at least 27 by patients who say they contracted cancer ...