We’ve all heard horror stories about the pharmaceutical industry. Undisclosed side effects, addictions, and price gouging are commonplace within the industry, but likely the worst infraction of all time is Zantac.
Zantac was the most popular over-the-counter medicine in the world, used for heartburn and acid reflux relief. It was sold by all the big pharmaceutical companies as a branded and generic medicine, claiming to bring relief to millions and millions of people.
The truth, however, was that Zantac was hiding a dark secret. Under certain storage conditions, Zantac was known to produce excessive amounts of NDMA, a chemical with a strong correlation to cancer. Yet, this risk factor was never disclosed to the FDA and 77,000 people ended up developing various forms of cancer.
Big pharma naturally accepts no responsibility, but that doesn’t change the fact that Zantac is one of the biggest scandals of the pharmaceutical industry.