The latest trial regarding allegations that the once-popular heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer, has seen GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) come out as the winner. It was established that the drug did not in any way cause illness to an Illinois woman, as corroborated by a company official.
The plaintiff, Carrie Joiner, in her Chicago state court complaint, claimed she contracted colorectal cancer caused by a carcinogenic impurity, NDMA, present in Zantac, which was once an over-the-counter blockbuster drug.
Zantac was at some point marketed by GSK, Pfizer, Sanofi, and Boehringer Ingelheim. Initially approved by U.S. regulators in 1983, it became the world’s number one selling medicine in 1988 and was among the pioneer drugs to break the $1 billion barrier in sales. Collectively, these companies are waging thousands of legal battles across the United States.
The majority of these cases are found in the Delaware state court. In June, a judge permitted over 70,000 cases to go forward after dismissing the defendants’ motion to bar certain of the plaintiffs’ expert witnesses for their alleged use of unproven scientific techniques. These companies plan to contest this decision in the court of appeal.
The lawsuits started when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) demanded in 2020 that producers recall Zantac due to the possibility that ranitidine, the component found in Zantac, turns into NDMA over time or when subjected to heat. Some cases have been resolved through negotiations without any amounts released to the public. Another trial that went to conclusion also ended in May, in which the jury gave its verdict in favor of GSK and Boehringer Ingelheim.
The drugmakers have always defended the lawsuits by stating that the claims are unfounded. In 2022, the plaintiffs won a major victory when a federal judge in Florida dismissed approximately half of the cases, saying there is no reliable science supporting the idea that Zantac caused people’s cancer.
