If you take chlorthalidone for blood pressure or fluid retention, check the label on your bottle right now.

More than 11,400 bottles of 25-mg chlorthalidone tablets have been recalled after testing found the medication may not dissolve properly in the body — which means it might not work the way it's supposed to. The recall was initiated June 5 by the manufacturer, India-based Inventia Healthcare Limited, and the FDA classified it as a Class II recall on June 22, meaning the agency considers it a moderate hazard that could cause temporary or reversible health effects.

The recalled bottles were distributed nationwide by Rising Pharma Holdings in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

How to Know If Your Bottle Is Affected

The recall covers two specific lots of 25-mg chlorthalidone tablets — both expiring April 2027.

The 100-count bottle has NDC 64980-599-01 and batch number RISA24001. The 1,000-count bottle has NDC 64980-599-10 and batch number RISB24002. Both numbers appear on the label. If your bottle matches either of those, contact your doctor or pharmacist immediately.

Do not stop taking your blood pressure medication without talking to a doctor first. That's critical. Abruptly stopping a blood pressure medication can cause blood pressure to spike, increasing the risk of heart attack or stroke. The problem here isn't that the drug is dangerous — it's that it may not be dissolving properly, which could mean it isn't lowering your blood pressure as effectively as it should. A pharmacist can quickly help you get a replacement prescription from an unaffected lot.

What "Failed Dissolution" Actually Means

The recall was triggered because the tablets failed what's called dissolution testing — a standard quality check that measures how quickly and completely a pill breaks down in liquid, simulating what happens in your digestive system.

If a tablet doesn't dissolve properly, your body can't absorb the active ingredient efficiently. Think of it this way — a pill that dissolves too slowly or incompletely is essentially delivering less of the drug than the dose printed on the label. For most medications that's inconvenient. For a blood pressure drug that someone depends on to keep their cardiovascular system stable, it could mean their pressure is higher than they and their doctor realize — silently, with no obvious symptoms until something goes wrong.

Chlorthalidone is a diuretic that works by prompting the kidneys to excrete excess salt and water through urine, which reduces fluid volume in the bloodstream and lowers pressure. It's been on the market for decades and is considered a first-line treatment for hypertension, prescribed to tens of millions of Americans. This recall affects a relatively small number of bottles from a single manufacturing batch — not the entire drug supply.

This Is the Second Blood Pressure Recall in Under a Year

October 2025 saw a much larger recall — more than half a million bottles of prazosin hydrochloride were pulled from shelves after testing found the capsules contained unsafe levels of cancer-causing chemicals called nitrosamines. That recall was classified more seriously and affected a significantly larger portion of the drug supply.

Blood pressure medication recalls have become more frequent in recent years, largely because of two factors. First, the vast majority of generic medications sold in the United States are manufactured overseas — primarily in India and China — where manufacturing standards, while regulated, are sometimes inconsistently enforced. Second, the FDA has increased its testing and surveillance of imported pharmaceuticals in recent years, which means more problems are being caught — a sign the system is working, though not exactly reassuring to someone holding a bottle of recalled pills.

Nitrosamine contamination in particular has affected dozens of generic medications over the past several years — the issue first came to wide attention in 2018 when the blood pressure drug valsartan was found to contain the compounds and triggered one of the largest drug recalls in U.S. history.

The chlorthalidone recall is a different and less severe issue — a manufacturing quality problem rather than a contamination with a potentially harmful chemical. But the pattern of recalls in this drug category is worth paying attention to, particularly for anyone managing a chronic condition who depends on their medication working exactly as labeled.

Curious for more stories that keep you informed and entertained? From the latest headlines to everyday insights, YourLifeBuzz has more to explore. Dive into what’s next.