Zantac: Big Pharma's New Killer

Via America’s Lawyer: Over 15 million Americans who take Zantac may be at risk of developing cancer. Attorney Sara Papantonio joins Mike Papantonio to explain litigation against the manufacturer, after studies revealed dangerous levels of NDMA chemical impurities which developed while the medication was stored in ordinary environments.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

The popular acid reflux medication Zantac has been under heavy scrutiny for a lot of years after it was revealed that the drug has been contaminated with a chemical called NDMA and also that the drug was breaking down into dangerous components even beyond that. Joining me to talk about this latest Zantac is, the saga of Zantac, actually, Sara Papantonio is heading up that project, really in many parts of the country. Sara, first of all, give, start from the beginning. What is Zantac? Why should we be concerned about it?

Zantac was introduced into the market in the early 1980s, and they introduced it as this miracle drug that was designed to stop heartburn in its tracks. This was a hugely popular drug because it's an over counter, the counter drug. And what that means is, you know, when you go to get it, you don't have to have a prescription. You don't have to go to a pharmacist, just walk right into a drug store and grab it. And we saw so much success with, with Zantac, it actually became a billion dollar drug.

Yeah.

The first of its kind in that annual sales. So what these manufacturers were seeing were dollar signs in their eyes. They weren't seeing that this drug was actually poisoning people.

Well, did they, they, they actually, early studies showed if that NDMA was being produced. They knew if I got this right, they knew that NDMA that was, that was being created in Zantac would cause liver disease. It would cause kidney disease. It would cause cancer. It would cause gastrointestinal disease. They knew all that and they kept it quiet from what I can see.

Absolutely. There is absolutely no question of whether or not there was knowledge here. We had scientists in the early 1980s before this drug was even developed saying, there's a ingredient in this drug Zantac called ranitidine. Ranitidine breaks down when it's exposed to high heat or temperatures or, or any type of exposure. They said, you need to watch this ingredient because it causes NDMA and that NDMA causes cancer. So there was no question. There were studies released over the 40 year period that Zantac was on the market that this NDMA would cause huge trouble for its consumers.

Well, is it, Sara, there's also the part of it that's the most bothersome. A person takes Zantac right. They, they get a load of NDMA. They don't even know it. Most people don't even know that the only use for NDMA is to test laboratory rats for cancer. They give the laboratory rats NDMA because it hurries up the process of cancer. Well, the, the public, I don't think gets the connection between if they put that NDMA in their body and other DMA that comes from food. Talk about that just a little bit.

That's the absolute truth. This, I mean, just to put this into perspective, this is a chemical that is used in rocket fuel, rocket fuel, and they're allowing consumers to put this chemical in their body every single day, some over the course of this 40 year period that it's been sold. Now, NDMA is a carcinogen that is so potent that scientists won't even do a study, an epidemiological study on human beings, because they're so confident that NDMA can be linked to cancer.

Okay, you're doing, you're handling the discovery. You're getting ready for trial on this case. What is the most startling things that you're finding about it? If you were just say, you know, if I'm looking at this across the board, this scares the bejesus out of me?

The fact that it's so obvious that, that this, this NDMA and this ranitidine molecule, that it could have been identified that this was going to be a problem.

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