Last month, Valisure researchers highlighted serious health risks inherent in Zantac through two new independent studies published in JAMA Network Open and MedRxiv.
In these studies, the online pharmacy established that under simulated gastric conditions the active ingredient ranitidine easily converts to cancer-causing chemicals N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). The new findings also suggest that the formation of NDMA is an inherent Zantac risk, which exposes the user to the known carcinogen released inside the body.
According to the research published in the JAMA Network Open, the pharmacy evaluated the conditions that stimulated ranitidine NDMA production by imitating gastric processes. The researchers noted that after two hours a 150 mg tablet of cool mint Zantac converted into 947 nanograms (ng) of NDMA, a limit 10 times higher than the FDA’s daily acceptable limit of 96 ng of NDMA consumption. The research also revealed that an increase in nitrate concentrations increased the limit to 320,000 ng.
The research published in MedRxiv was the result of a study on more than 10,000 cancer patients, which showed a strong association between users of Zantac and an increased risk of breast cancer, thyroid cancer, bladder cancer, and prostate cancer as compared to the users who consumed heartburn drugs that did not contain ranitidine.
Zantac lawsuits are growing in numbers, and it currently comprises approximately 1,000 lawsuits. The litigation is presided by Judge Robin L. Rosenberg of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
The lawsuits allege Pfizer Inc., Sanofi SA, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., and GlaxoSmithKline LLC, along with generics makers, distributors, pharmacies, and others in the supply chain, of misleading advertising, failure to warn, and other claims associated with the presence of cancer-causing chemical NDMA in the popular heartburn drug.
