高血壓藥中查出致癌物 華海藥業召回問題藥品

A pharmaceutical company in Zhejiang province has reported finding an impurity that can cause cancer in a drug it makes as an ingredient in blood pressure medications, the State Drug Administration said last Sunday. The products have been recalled.

國家藥監局上週日稱，浙江一家制藥公司報告，該公司生產的一款降壓藥原料藥被發現含有可致癌的雜質。目前該產品已被召回。

Huahai Pharmaceutical reported on July 6 that it had discovered traces of a chemical impurity called NDMA in valsartan, the active ingredient in drugs widely used to treat hypertension, the administration said. Valasartan normally contains no such contaminant.

藥監局稱，7月6日，華海藥業股份有限公司報告其纈沙坦原料藥中檢出微量化學雜質N-亞硝基二甲胺（NDMA），纈沙坦是一種被廣泛應用於降壓藥的原料藥，正常情況下不含有雜質。

Experiments have shown that NDMA can cause cancer in animals, but there is little evidence of a problem for humans, the administration said. The chemical is widely used elsewhere -- for example, in products such as salted foods.

相關部門表示，實驗表明，NDMA可能會導致動物患上癌症，但幾乎沒有證據表明會導致人類出現該問題。這種化學物質在其他地方被廣泛使用--例如，在鹽類食品等產品中。

The administration said the presence of NDMA does not present serious health risks for patients who have used products from Huahai Pharmaceutical. However, measures must be taken to stop production and recall the involved products.

該管理部門稱，NDMA的存在不會給使用華海藥業產品的患者帶來嚴重的健康風險。但是必須採取措施來停止生產並召回所涉及的產品。

Huahai's production technique was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency.

華海藥業的生產技術得到了美國食品藥品監督管理局和歐洲藥品管理局的認證。

The authority has inspected six other companies in China that produce valsartan, and no meaningful traces of NDMA were detected.

當局已經對中國另外六家生產纈沙坦的公司展開了調查，並沒有檢測到NDMA的痕跡。