Zantac / Ranitidine contamination uterine cancer link

I just saw an article on MSNBC about the same contamination found in some high blood pressure medicine has now been found in common heartburn medication. It specifically mentions uterine and colon cancer associated with the contaminant. Of course made in China. I am sure there is more details to come. 

Comments

  • zsazsa1
    zsazsa1 Member Posts: 565 Member
    Yup.  I was on generic

    Yup.  I was on generic valsartan every day for 5 yrs, pretty much from the time it came on the market.  I'm considering my options, now that I have the energy to pursue it.  Anyone else?

  • Zantac, Pepsid,

    I had taken Zantac for years.  Don't know why, it never helped me anyway so I quit.  Tried Pepsid and all that stuff that was prescription only at the time.  Not too long ago, they did an expose on the local news that said some study, (don't remember where and whom) that they linked it to certain types of cancer.  Haven't heard about it since, but my doctor told me "pills are poison" and I think he's correct!

  • zsazsa1
    zsazsa1 Member Posts: 565 Member
    I don't think it's the

    I don't think it's the medication that was carcinogenic - it's that they used a cheaper prcess in China, and generic manufacturers bought product made in China, and then sold it with no indication that the product had been made in China.  Had I known that the med had been made in China, I would never have bought it.  I won't buy any foods made in China.  ANyway, the cheaper manufacturing process led to a carcinogenic contaminant in the medication.  There was a Danish study done which showed that there was an increased incidence of uterine and less so colon cancer in those who had taken generic valsartan, but it did not rise to the level of clinical significance.  I actually contacted the researcher and asked her to look at the data for the various subtypes of uterine cancer, and she said that the 15 cases they saw were the usual distribution - mostly the common type, the expected low number of serous and clear cell.

  • Northwoodsgirl
    Northwoodsgirl Member Posts: 571
    Zantac pulled off the market finally

    Finally US pulled Zantac off the market. Pulled off in other countries before here. Carcinogenic material found in medication was 3000 times more than expected. This is a very old drug. I don’t trust the “good manufacturing practices” in China or India. Sad state of affairs the fact that so much of what use to be made in the US is no longer manufactured here. My comment is not meant to start a political debate rather a simple observation from one who has worked in the pharmaceutical industry.  If talcum powder has been linked to cervical cancer who knows what we have exposed ourselves to over the years unwittenly.