Bangladesh bans heartburn drug Ranitidine made with ingredients of two Indian firms

The government has banned the heartburn drug Ranitidine made with raw materials from two Indian companies after detecting high levels of cancer-causing ingredients in them.

The Directorate General of Drug Administration announced the move on Sunday.

The two Indian companies that supply the raw material – Ranitidine hydrochloride – are Saraca Laboratories Limited and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, according to the DGDA.

Tests run on the raw materials from these companies and the finished product revealed higher than normal levels of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), which the US Food and Drug Administration says is a “probable human carcinogen, the authority said.

The drug authority has accordingly banned the production, sale and marketing of Ranitidine products made using the materials supplied by the Indian firms.

But the ban is unlikely to have any impact on the treatment of patients, according to physicians.

“It’s not an essential drug now. We have so many alternatives and better drugs available in the market,” Dr Raj Datta, a consultant of the Sheikh Russel Gastroliver Institute and Hospital, told bdnews24.com.

He pointed to drugs like omeprazole, pantoprazole, and esomeprazole as viable alternatives. “But the cost of Ranitidine is slightly lower than others.”