The Valsartan saga continues as some consignments are being withdrawn from pharmacies following updated recommendations from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

The agency cracked down on Valsartan made by an India-based unit of Mylan Laboratories Limited after some batches were found to contain a probable cancer-causing impurity.

Only five days ago, the health authorities in Malta said the country was not affected by the recall as Malta’s stock did not come from the contaminated batch.

But in a statement on Wednesday, the government said the batches withdrawn were being replaced by another Valsartan. It said patients should not stop their blood pressure medication without speaking to a doctor.

The Pharmacy of Your Choice would take all the necessary steps to provide pharmacies with a bigger stock of Valsartan not affected by the recall.

The Maltese health authorities said they would continue to follow the information being given by the EMA and keep the public informed of developments.

Cancer-causing impurities had already been linked to batches of Valsartan earlier in the year, leading to a global recall.

European regulators said in July the drug, manufactured in bulk by a Chinese company and sold worldwide, might have contained an impurity linked to cancer since 2012.

Malta was one of 22 affected countries, with about 27,000 patients getting Valsartan through the government’s Pharmacy of Your Choice scheme.