LONDON : Singapore health officials have recalled three of 46 versions of the diabetes drug metformin after finding amounts of a cancer-causing substance that was"above the acceptable level".
Its action comes as global health regulators are looking into whether the widely used drugs may contain unsafe levels of the carcinogen NDMA that has previously been found in heart and gastric medications The US Food and Drug Administration said in a statement on Wednesday that the agency is testing samples of metformin sold in the US for NDMA and that it will recommend recalls of the medication as appropriate."However, the agency has not confirmed if NDMA in metformin is above the acceptable daily intake limit of 96 nanograms in the US"
Earlier on Wednesday, the European Medicines Agency said companies should test for high levels of NDMA in metformin. No dangerous levels have been detected in EU supplies to date, and patients should continue taking their diabetes treatments as prescribed, the agency said in response to questions.