No carcinogen found in Zantac and its generics, Says FDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Wednesday that alternatives to popular heartburn drug Zantac & its generic versions, known chemically as ranitidine, have not been found to contain the probable cancer-causing impurity that ranitidine has been linked to.
U.S. retailers Walmart Inc, CVS Health Corp Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc and Rite Aid Corp have all removed Zantac off their shelves after some drugs containing its key ingredient ranitidine were found to have traces of any impurity, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA).
Early tests of alternatives to over-the-counter ranitidine, such as Pepcid, Tagamet, Nexium, Prevacid, and Prilosec show no NDMA, the agency said.
The FDA said earlier this month it found unacceptable levels of NDMA in drugs containing ranitidine. The regulators asked ranitidine makers to conduct their own testing to assess levels of the impurity & to send samples of their product samples for testing by the agency.
French drugmaker Sanofi SA last week said it would recall Zantac in the United States and Canada.
NDMA impurity had previously been found in some blood pressure medicines from a class of drugs known as the angiotensin II receptor blockers, or ARBs. The
potentially carcinogenic impurities are believed to have been introduced by recent changes in the manufacturing process for the drugs.Author: Ria Roy
Editor’s Note: No carcinogen found in Zantac, carcinogenic impurities, popular heartburn drug Zantac & its generic versions, known chemically as ranitidine, FDA says no carcinogens in Zantac and its generics, Zantac and its generics, heartburn drug ranitidine.
