FDA Adverse Events Reports (FAERS) Summary for ZANTAC

These tables and charts are based on 365,018 total reports for ZANTAC (RANITIDINE HYDROCHLORIDE) received by the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) from 2004 through July 30, 2026.

This FAERS total includes 363,526 pharmaceutical company-submitted and non-U.S. FAERS reports and 1,492 U.S. consumer or healthcare provider-submitted MedWatch reports. Adverse events listed on this page represent serious and sometimes rare adverse events reported to pharmaceutical companies, and often do not represent typical side effects for the medication. Find common side effects in the most recent official drug label.

For a separate summary of the 1,492 U.S. reports filed via the FDA MedWatch voluntary reporting system, view our FDA MedWatch ZANTAC summary report. (See notes section below for explanation of FDA’s mandatory and voluntary reporting system.)

Top 20 Adverse Effects Associated with ZANTAC (reported in FAERS Database)

 Side Effect# of FDA Reports
1PROSTATE CANCER46398
2COLORECTAL CANCER34673
3BREAST CANCER30737
4BLADDER CANCER30671
5KIDNEY CANCER30077
6ESOPHAGEAL CANCER20289
7GASTRIC CANCER14672
8HEPATIC CANCER12894
9PANCREATIC CANCER11346
10LUNG NEOPLASM MALIGNANT11050
11CANCER MALIGNANT8640
12BREAST CANCER7764
13BREAST CANCER7555
14BREAST CANCER STAGE II6444
15CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE5859
16PAIN5794
17GASTROINTESTINAL CARCINOMA5297
18THYROID CANCER4940
19DRUG INEFFECTIVE4857
20ANXIETY4710

Latest Known Outcomes for Reactions Reported for ZANTAC

Latest Known Outcome for Reported ReactionsNumber of Cases
1Unknown Outcome286052
2Patient has not recovered/symtoms have not resolved39741
3Patient died21387
4Patient recovered15112
5Patient is recovering/symptoms resolving11289
6Patient has recovered but has consequent health issues254

Yearly FDA Adverse Event Reports (Table)

YearNumber of Reports
20001
20011
20035
20041261
20051343
20061233
20071275
20081776
20092116
20102113
20112245
20123058
20132490
20142585
20153866
20164463
20173482
20185655
20197675
202052972
2021151982
2022109911
20232514
2024488
2025363
2026145

Reports by Patient Age Group (Table)

Age GroupNumber of Reports
0-101407
11-201461
21-304176
31-4013045
41-5034658
51-6063021
61-7056564
71-8022651
81-905146
91+411

Based on 202540 reports that included a patient age.

ZANTAC Total Reports

 Male    Female    Unknown    Total  
 165649    147926    51443    365,018  

Top Countries Reporting

 Country  Number of Reports
1 United States  339641
2 Canada  2999
3 Japan  600
4 Puerto Rico  374
5 Italy  335
6 United Kingdom  198
7 Belgium  172
8 Germany  137
9 Greece  110
10 Australia  77

Outcomes for Reports

Serious: 342376
Not Serious: 22642
Note: A serious outcome means the adverse event resulted in death, a life threatening condition, hospitalization, disability, congenital anomaly, or other serious condition.

Top Indications      
Product used for unknown indication
INDIGESTION
Gastrooesophageal reflux disease
Gastrointestinal disorder

Top Companies Reporting

   CHATTEM

Safety-Related FDA Updates

For serious adverse events, report them to the FDA by contacting the drug manufacturer or report directly through the MedWatch voluntary reporting form.

Notes

Events listed on this page represent serious and often rare adverse events reported to pharmaceutical companies, and do not represent typical side effects for the medication. Find common side effects on the most recent official drug label This report, created by AskaPatient.com, is derived from the cases for ZANTAC reported to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) and obtained from Open FDA. Data was last updated with reports received through July 30, 2026.

This summary includes ALL reports where the drug is a "primary OR secondary OR suspected interacting" drug. Typically, reports are filed for the most serious type or "event" and do not represent incidental or minor side effects. The majority of these reports are mandatory reports submitted by pharmaceutical companies, who receive complaints from consumers. The reactions, side effects, or "adverse events," represent up to the 20 most frequently occuring events in the database for a drug related to the event. This report also features counts of latest known outcomes associated with reported side effects, but does not provide the specific outcomes for specific adverse events.

Adverse Event Reports are submitted to the FAERS database by pharmaceutical companies (mandatory reporting is required by manufacturers, distributors, or importers). Health care providers such as doctors (voluntary reporting), and patients themselves (voluntary reporting) report to the FDA directly through the MedWatch program. Those MedWatch reports are coded and included in the FAERS database. This report mainly consists of the mandatory reports, because the MedWatch reports are a small percentage (3 - 5%) of total reports. Link to the MedWatch summary report at the top of the page for a summary of the directly reported (voluntary) adverse events for this drug.The number of reports included here might differ somewhat from the number of reports in the downloadable quarterly FAERS reports and in the online FAERS dashboard, due to lags in reporting, drug name differences, duplicates, and other factors. Open FDA states that it only includes the most recent version of a case report. It also adds the disclaimer: "Do not rely on openFDA to make decisions regarding medical care. While we make every effort to ensure that data is accurate, you should assume all results are unvalidated."

FDA uses the "MedDRA" classification system to describe reported adverse reactions. MedDRA is a standardized medical terminology that facilitates sharing of regulatory information internationally. In some cases, "patient friendly" terms for the layman designated by MedDRA have been substituted for medical jargon. Please contact us with questions or comments about this report.