FDA Finds 'Potentially Dangerous' Cancer-Causing Contaminant in Zantac, Related Drugs/NEWS

FDA Finds 'Potentially Dangerous' Cancer-Causing Contaminant in Zantac, Related Drugs U.S. health officials said Friday they are investigating low levels of a potentially dangerous contaminant in the popular heartburn medication Zantac and related generic drugs. For now, though, the Food and Drug Administration said patients can continue taking their medications. The agency said it has detected a “probable” cancer-causing chemical in the medications, which are sold as both prescription and over-the-counter treatments to treat stomach acid and ulcers. FDA officials said the amount of the impurity barely exceeds levels found in common foods. But the same chemical has been linked to dozens of recalls of prescription blood pressure drugs in the past year. The FDA is still investigating that issue and last month sanctioned a manufacturing plant in India that makes some of the ingredients used in the medications. Zantac maker Sanofi said in a statement it “takes patient safety seriously, and we are committed to working with the FDA.” The FDA is responsible for ensuring that U.S. medicines are manufactured in safe, sanitary conditions. But regulators have struggled for years to inspect the supply chain as pharmaceutical production has spread globally. For decades the FDA focused its manufacturing inspections on U.S. factories. But over time, most companies have moved their manufacturing overseas to take advantage of cheaper labor and materials. Today, roughly 80% of the ingredients used in U.S. drugs are manufactured abroad, primarily in India and China, according to the Government Accountability Office. NEWS ELA: ”Raft" created by underwater volcano could help replenish Great Barrier Reef A big mass of volcanic rock is drifting through the Pacific Ocean toward Australia. Scientists say it could help the Great Barrier Reef.  The news comes amid fears for the future of the ecosystem suffering under climate change. Australia's Queensland University of Technology (QUT) said the floating sheet of pumice rocks is expected to reach Australian shores in about eight months. It could bring with it billions of marine animals that attached themselves to the sheet along the way. 58-Mile Sheet The pumice sheet is called a raft. It stretches for almost 58 miles, the university said in mid-August. Pumice is produced when magma, or liquid rock, is cooled rapidly. NASA said an underwater volcano near the island nation of Tonga likely produced it. Tonga is an archipelago of 170 volcanic islands in the South Pacific Ocean.  The underwater volcano erupted sometime around August 7.  Australian couple Michael Hoult and Larissa Brill first reported the raft sighting on August 15. They came across the rock rubble at night while they were sailing to Fiji in the South Pacific. "We entered a total rock rubble slick made up of pumice stones from marble to basketball size," the couple said in a Facebook post. They added that the rock rubble slick stretched for as far as they could see in the moonlight with their boat's spotlight. The couple was temporarily stuck after rocks jammed their boat. They were later able to navigate a way out of the block. Stone Samples Sent To Researchers After their sighting, the couple sent samples of the pumice stone to the researchers at QUT for study. Scott Bryan, one of the geologists studying the samples provided, said in a statement that the raft is going to "bring new healthy corals and other reef dwellers to the Great Barrier Reef." He later told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) that the rock mass was probably composed of "billions to trillions of pieces of pumice." He added that each is "a vehicle for some marine organism." Bryan said the pumice raft will be covered in a whole range of organisms by the time it arrives. It will be full of things like corals, crabs, snails, worms and algae. Algae are tiny plants that live in the water. The Great Barrier Reef covers almost 135,000 square miles. It made the World Heritage List of UNESCO as the most extensive and spectacular coral reef ecosystem on the planet in 1981. Unfortunately, it has suffered extensive damage in recent years with rising water temperatures destroying large swaths of coral.