Time Magazine Warns That Some Heartburn Drugs Have a Greater Likelihood of Leading To Early Deaths

Switching to an FDA-recommended protein pump inhibitor (PPI) drug may increase the risk of death

Monday, September 13, 2021 - Zantac cancer lawsuits look to studies that are being made available each week to try and uncover new evidence that links taking the heartburn medicine with getting a life-threatening disease like cancer or diabetes. One such study comes from overseas and claims that using popular heartburn medicines increases one's chances of getting type-2 diabetes by 25%. Scientists from Sun Yat-sen University in China have concluded "people who have been consuming acid reflux drugs might be at a 24 percent higher risk of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Experts have warned people saying that those who are taking proton pump inhibitors (PPI) are twice more likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes," according to Chemical Market Reports. The study also found that the longer one was on ranitidine, the greater the odds of developing the disease. A different study found that Vietnam veterans had a higher likelihood of getting diabetes if they also had been taking ranitidine. Vietnam veterans are notorious abusers or heartburn medicine given the stresses of their profession and the poor diet they are forced to eat.

It is a full-time job to try and keep track of all of the scientific studies that link ranitidine, the active molecule in the original Zantac heartburn and acid reflux medicine, with developing different types of cancer. One of the more interesting reports comes from Time Magazine a few years back that links those taking PPI drugs with having a higher rate of death than those that took H2-blockers. Time investigators tracked 350,000 veteran's cases in the US Veterans Affairs Database for nearly a decade and found that those that were taking H2 blocker drugs like ranitidine and famotidine had a much lower risk of death than those that were taking PPI drugs. "The people who were prescribed PPIs (which include esomeprazole, or Nexium, and lansoprazole, or Prevacid) had a 25% higher risk of dying during the study period than those who took the H2 blockers (such as famotidine, or Pepcid, and ranitidine, or Zantac)," according to Time. Ironically PPI drugs are the same ones that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended people switch to when they recalled Zantac and all forms of ranitidine on April 1, 2020.

Plaintiffs that have filed heartburn medicine cancer lawsuits claim that taking Zantac ranitidine every day for over a year caused them to develop stomach, bladder, esophagus, colon, prostate, and even breast cancer in women. The original Zantac made from ranitidine should not be confused with the new Zantac 360 Extra Strength made from famotidine, which is nothing like the original medicine. Famotidine is 7.5 times stronger than ranitidine, takes longer to start working, and lasts much longer. Former Zantac users should speak with their doctor before purchasing Zantac 360 famotidine, which is available over the counter only and not by prescription.

More Recent Heartburn MedicineLawsuit News:

• Zantac Cancer Trials Are In Discovery To Begin In October 2022 | 7/19/2022
• Zantac Cancer Lawsuits Could Hinge On The Validity of Ranitidine Testing Methods | 7/11/2022
• Zantac Cancer Bellwether Trials In California Could Set The Stage For A Global Settlement Offer | 7/5/2022
• The FDA Recommended Protein Pump Inhibitor Drugs Like Prilosec And Nexium That May Damage Health More Than Zantac | 6/23/2022
• Truck Drivers, Firefighters, and Police Officers May Have Taken More Zantac Than People In Other Occupations | 6/20/2022

Lawyers for Zantac Heartburn Medicine Lawsuits

OnderLaw, LLC is a St. Louis personal injury law firm handling serious injury and death claims across the country. Its mission is the pursuit of justice, no matter how complex the case or strenuous the effort. The Onder Law Firm has represented clients throughout the United States in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation such as Pradaxa, Lexapro and Yasmin/Yaz, where the firm's attorneys held significant leadership roles in the litigation, as well as Actos, DePuy, Risperdal and others. The Onder Law Firm has won more than $300 million in four talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits in St. Louis. Law firms throughout the nation often seek its experience and expertise on complex litigation.