Walgreens, CVS won’t sell Zantac

Pharmacy chains Walgreens and CVS have stopped selling heartburn medicine Zantac and its generic versions after the Food and Drug Administration warned last month that it had detected low levels of a cancercausing chemical in samples of the drug.

A Walgreens spokesman said Monday that the company had pulled the drug from its shelves “while the FDA continues its review of the products.”

Walgreens and CVS, which announced its move Saturday, both noted that the drug, which is known as ranitidine, has not been recalled. The companies said customers who had bought the products could return them for a refund.

In its warning Sept. 13, the FDA said it had found low levels of a cancer-causing contaminant, a type of nitrosamine called nitrosodimethylamine, or NDMA, in the heartburn medications. Nitrosamines can cause tumors in the liver and other organs in lab animals, and they are believed to be carcinogenic in humans.