The Union Government has removed the popular antacid salt, Ranitidine, from the essential medicine list over cancer-causing concerns, along with another 26 medicines. Ranitidine is popularly sold under the brand names Aciloc, Zinetac, and Rantac, among others, and is commonly prescribed for acidity and stomachache-related issues. On Tuesday, the Health Ministry released the revised National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), which contains 384 drugs. Meanwhile, all 26 drugs removed from the list will cease to exist in the country.

The 26 drugs excluded from the NLEM, 2022 are Alteplase, Atenolol, Bleaching Powder, Capreomycin, Cetrimide, Chlorpheniramine, Diloxanide furoate, Dimercaprol, Erythromycin, Ethinylestradiol, Ethinylestradiol(A) Norethisterone (B), Ganciclovir, Kanamycin, Lamivudine (A) + Nevirapine (B) + Stavudine (C), Leflunomide, Methyldopa, Nicotinamide, Pegylated interferon alfa 2a, Pegylated interferon alfa 2b, Pentamidine, Prilocaine (A) + Lignocaine (B), Procarbazine, Ranitidine, Rifabutin, Stavudine (A) + Lamivudine (B), Sucralfate, and White Petrolatum.

Ranitidine has raised concerns related to cancer globally. Hence, the Health Ministry has discussed the details with the Drug Controller General of India and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) before taking the salt out of the essential stock. The salt has been under investigation since 2019 when the US-based Food and Drug Administration found a probable cancer-causing impurity, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), at unacceptable levels in the drug. Also, with the inclusion of the new essential list, the prices of several high-demand medicines will be reduced in India. Some of these drugs are anti-diabetic drugs like insulin glargine, anti-tuberculosis drugs like delamanid, and antiparasite drugs like ivermectin.