In the midst of everything else going on here in Ohio and across the country, the Food and Drug Administration still has to fulfill its obligations to the public, which means keeping track of dangerous and defective products and medications. As part of this ongoing mission, the FDA recently announced that it requested all manufacturers to initiate an immediate and complete ranitidine recall. This would take all medications containing it off the market.
However, there is more to it than just informing manufacturers. The agency is also asking anyone taking medications containing ranitidine, which includes Zantac, to stop doing so immediately. The goal is to eliminate all over-the-counter and prescription ranitidine from U.S. markets. The answer to why this is happening has to do with the presence of N-Nitrosodimethylamine.
Even so, the FDA says that the testing methods used to identify the high levels of NDMA in the medication put it under conditions that would not ordinarily occur in storage or ingestion. The recommendation for ranitidine and other similar medications is to change the testing parameters to a lower temperature. The agency has yet to release the results of its own testing to verify whether this would be a prudent course of action.
As the ranitidine recall issue continues, more people, including some here in Ohio, could end up receiving diagnoses of cancers potentially attributed to NDMA. Pursuing restitution from pharmaceutical companies is complex and comes with challenges. With everything else individuals in this position have to deal with, it would more than likely be advantageous to work with an experienced attorney instead of attempting to go it alone.
