After pharmacy giants like CVS and Walgreens pulled heartburn drug Zantac from their shelves over a potential link to cancer, the drug’s maker — French company Sanofi — has decided to issue a recall as well. The decision to recall comes after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that Zantac was found to contain low levels of a cancer-causing chemical called nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA).
Zantac Recall: What Do I Need to Know?
- The FDA issued a warning that heartburn drug Zantac was found to contain low-levels of cancer-causing chemicals
- Experts say that if you've been taking Zantac, it's likely that you don't have to worry; they have yet to see any serious side effects over many years
- However, there are other drugs that work similarly to Zantac and are safe alternatives, including Pepcid and Tagamet
The FDA announced that Zantac was found to contain NDMA in September, and despite the fact that the doctors, researchers, and the FDA itself are still trying to come to a consensus on how much of the chemical is in Zantac, many major drug retailers were quick to pull the products from their shelves. CVS said in a statement that its decision to recall the drug, and its own generic version of it, was out of “an abundance of caution.”
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However, there are risks to be aware of with other heartburn drugs as well. Dr. Koufman said that drugs like Tagamet or Pepcid, which are both in the same drug “class” as Zantac, are safer options than drugs like Prilosec, Prevacid, and Protonix, which are in a different class than Zantac, but are meant to address the same symptoms. The drugs from the latter class have been linked to cancer as well in the past.
Read More About The Zantac Recall
- A Popular Heartburn Drug is Being Recalled For Its Potential Cancer Risk — Here’s What You Can Do For Your Heartburn Instead
- The Zantac Recall–Pepcid and Tagamet Are Good Options To Avoid Cancer Risk
- If Heartburn Drug Zantac Is Being Pulled From Stores For Cancer Link, Why Are There Still Ads For It On TV?
How Dangerous is Zantac?
But just how dangerous is the drug? After all, the probable cancer-causing chemical in Zantac is also found in smoked meats and fish. So logically, wouldn't it make sense to assume that taking the occasional Zantac would only be as risky as occasionally heading to a BBQ where they're serving smoked pork? The answer to that one is not quite.
Doctors are still trying to figure out exactly how much cancer-linked NDMA is in Zantac. Data from the FDA hasn't matched up with data from other investigations so the industry is still trying to come to a consensus. If the levels of NDMA are as low as they are in smoked meat and fish, the risk for taking Zantac would be the same as the risk a person takes when occasionally indulging in these foods.
Until the numbers come out, trying to avoid heartburn or switching to an alternative medication is the safest bet.
“The public should know that there are alternatives to Zantac,” Dr. Iris Udasin, medical director of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute's Clinical Center at the Rutgers School of Public Health said. "People can opt for the good alternative Pepcid (generic name Famotidine) to relieve heartburn or other issues of indigestion."
People who regularly took Zantac before all of this should be able to easily switch to alternatives such as Pepcid, or to another alternative, Tagamet (generic name cimetidine). Both are available over the counter and work essentially the same way and with the same efficacy as Zantac, but without the cancer-causing chemical risk.
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