Zantac® Side Effects

Zantac®’s Link to the Most Serious Side Effect: Cancer

After initial studies, researchers commended ranitidine – Zantac®’s primary ingredient – for its “excellent safety profile.” Zantac® was trusted by millions of patients and healthcare professionals, being prescribed up to 15 million times every year.

The drug quickly rose to be one of the best-selling pharmaceutical drugs ever and was widely regarded as a safe and effective heartburn medication that carried a low risk of experiencing any of the side effects mentioned above. That is until the summer of 2019 when independent lab results from the pharmacy company Valisure discovered the presence of the known human carcinogen, NDMA, in brand name and generic Zantac®. Valisure reported to the FDA that it had found NDMA levels as high as 3,267,968 ng per tablet. The daily intake limit that has been determined to be safe by the FDA is 96 ng.

The FDA has since been conducting ongoing investigations and confirmed that ranitidine can convert into NDMA especially when stored in higher temperatures, but also under normal storage conditions during distribution and in consumer homes.

In light of the NDMA contamination, the millions of Americans who have taken Zantac® regularly all these years are believed to have a higher risk of developing cancer. Prostate, pancreatic, esophageal, stomach, breast, liver, bladder, colorectal, intestinal, kidney, and lung cancer have all been reported as a result of taking Zantac®.