FDA investigating whether Zantac causes carcinogens to form in patients’ bodies

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating whether the popular heartburn drug Zantac causes carcinogens to form in the bodies of patients in an effort to fully understand the risks posed by the already recalled drug, the agency's spokesman said on Thursday.

The issue of whether ranitidine, commonly known as Zantac, causes levels of the probable carcinogen N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) to rise in patients' bodies has been raised previously by Valisure, an online pharmacy that originally flagged the potential contamination of ranitidine to the FDA.

Also Read: UPDATE 2-Sanofi pulls Zantac from U.S. and Canada after carcinogen found