FDA Pulls All Remaining Zantac Off U.S. Market
In April 2020, the FDA pulled all remaining Zantac products off the U.S. market due to the risk of cancer, including over-the-counter and prescription Zantac and generic ranitidine. The FDA warned that a cancer-causing chemical impurity called NDMA can increase in the pills over time, or when the pills are stored above room-temperature.
Zantac Recalls
There are over a dozen recalls for over-the-counter Zantac®, prescription Zantac® generic ranitidine, store-brand heartburn medications, and other products that contain ranitidine.
What Should I Do?
Talk to your doctor if you are not sure whether your medication was recalled. If you or a loved one was diagnosed with cancer after taking Zantac, contact a lawyer for more information.
How Much NDMA is in Zantac?
Tests found that each 150-mg tablet of Zantac contained up to 2,500 micrograms of NDMA. This is more than 26,000-times higher than the FDA’s “safe” intake limit of less than 1 microgram per day. To put this in perspective, drug-makers were forced to issue dozens of recalls for blood pressure drugs that only had NDMA levels up to 17 micrograms.
What is N-nitrosodimethylamine?
NDMA (N-nitrosodimethylamine) is a toxic chemical that is classified as a “probable human carcinogen,” which means it could potentially cause cancer in people, according to the World Health Organization and the U.S. EPA.
How Does NDMA Get Into Zantac?
Investigators are still trying to determine why some Zantac contained NDMA. However, in the case of blood-pressure drugs, NDMA was produced as an impurity during the drug-manufacturing process.