Zantac Makers Asked by FDA to Withdraw Drug on Cancer Concern

Regulators asked drugmakers to remove all ranitidine drugs from the U.S. market, six months after some versions of the stomach medicine were found to be contaminated with a probable cancer-causing chemical.

The Food and Drug Administration said in a statement Wednesday that it had found that levels of the chemical NDMA in ranitidine increase over time and when stored at higher room temperatures. Those conditions “may result in consumer exposure to unacceptable levels of this impurity,” the agency said. Ranitidine is commonly known by the brand name Zantac.

The FDA and its counterparts around the world began looking into the ...