A US jury found this week that pharma giant GSK was not responsible for an Illinois woman’s illness – a triumph for the company in its latest trial over claims that discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer.
The claimant had alleged in her lawsuit that she developed colorectal cancer from a carcinogenic contaminant called NDMA found in the once-blockuster drug.
Zantac was sold at different times by GSK, Pfizer, Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim, reports Reuters.
First approved by American regulators in 1983, it became the world’s best-selling medicine in 1988 and one of the first to top $1bn in annual sales.
The companies collectively are facing thousands of lawsuits against them in courts across the United States.
Most of those are in Delaware state court, where a judge in June allowed more than 70 000 cases to go forward after rejecting the defendants’ bid to keep key plaintiffs’ expert witnesses out of court on the grounds that their scientific methods were not reliable. The companies are appealing that ruling.
The lawsuits began piling up after the US Food and Drug Administration – in 2020 – asked manufacturers to pull the drug off the market over concerns that ranitidine, the active ingredient in Zantac and generic versions of the drug, could degrade into NDMA over time or when exposed to heat.
Several cases have settled before trial for undisclosed amounts. The only previous case to go to trial ended with a verdict in favour of GSK and Boehringer Ingelheim in May.
The drugmakers have said the cases are meritless. They won a significant victory in 2022, when a Florida federal judge ruled against about 50 000 cases, finding that the alleged cancer link was not supported by sound science. Some of those cases are being appealed.
Reuters article – GSK wins latest trial over Zantac cancer claims (Open access)
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Judge green-lights 700 000 Zantac lawsuits
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