Three Pharma Companies, Walmart Hit with Class Action Over Sale of Allegedly NDEA-Contaminated Irbesartan

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

Aurobindo Pharma, ScieGen Pharmaceuticals, Westminster Pharmaceuticals, and Walmart Inc. are the defendants in a proposed class action in which the plaintiff claims the companies are to blame for the respective manufacture, distribution and sale of generic irbesartan allegedly adulterated with N-nitrosodiethylamine—NDEA—a probable carcinogen.

Irbesartan is a prescription drug used most commonly to treat high blood pressure and diabetic nephropathy, the case explains. Manufacturing defects at Aurobindo’s facility in India caused certain contaminated batches of irbesartan’s active pharmaceutical ingredient to find their way to ScieGen and then into the U.S. market, the complaint says.

According to the lawsuit, ScieGen used adulterated ingredients to manufacture irbesartan tablets, which were shipped to Westminster Pharmaceuticals in Tampa before being distributed to retailers such as Walmart nationwide.

The plaintiff argues that the generic irbesartan medication she purchased that made its way through the above-described supply line is worthless. Proposed class members were harmed by paying for a medication they believed to be equivalent to the brand-name drug Avapro, the case points out, but was instead unfit for human consumption.