Kept Zantac in your medicine cabinet and diagnosed with cancer? Our lawyers can help.
The average household contains at least four jars of medicine. However, many people keep even more medication on hand. Therefore, it is worth giving some thought to your pharmaceutical inventory.
Did Zantac undergo a cancerous change in medicine cabinets?
It can be a challenge to keep track of pill jars so that you can find the right medicine when it is needed. For example, nobody wants to be stuck searching for antacids during the onset of indigestion.
Therefore, many people store their pharmaceutical drugs in their bathroom medicine cabinet. Also known as a “bathroom cabinet”, medicine cabinets were popularized in the 1920’s as a centerpiece of health and hygiene.
However, lawyers indicate storing drugs like Zantac or Ranitidine in a bathroom medicine cabinet could pose a cancer risk. For additional information on our antacid cancer lawyers, click here.
Lawsuits suggest drugs like Ranitidine can decompose in bathroom conditions
As tempting as it may be to store medicine in your “medicine cabinet”, consumers are reminded to carefully adhere to manufacturer guidelines pertaining to storage of medication.
Many drug labels state the product should be stored in a cool, dry place. In a full bathroom, containing a utilized bath and/or shower, contents of a medicine cabinet may be at risk. Running a hot shower or even drawing a hot bath will likely increase the temperature in the bathroom.
In addition, steam from the hot water can increase the humidity in the room. This can result in moisture in the air.
Heat and moisture are both contrary to the recommended cool, dry storage place for medication.
How Climate Affects Drug Storage
Storing medication in a hot or moist climate could compromise the drug’s ingredients. In fact, certain pharmaceutical medications including Zantac and Ranitidine are believed to undergo chemical change in such environments. This can result in production of the NDMA biproduct.
NDMA, a probable human carcinogen, is believed to cause digestive cancer and other injuries in heartburn patients who took Zantac or Ranitidine. For more information on the impact of climate on drug safety, click here.
A Safer Use for Bathroom Medicine Cabinets
Alternative items to store in your bathroom cabinet may include a tooth brush, hair brush, nail clippers, Q-tips and a thermometer. But to avoid potential damage to your medication on the molecular level, be sure to adhere to storage warnings on the product label.
