GSK Continues To Settle Zantac Lawsuits Before Trial, While Maintaining Heartburn Drug Did Not Cause Cancers

GlaxoSmithKline has reportedly agreed to settle another Zantac lawsuit just before the case was set to go before a jury, but continues to refuse to make wider payouts to resolve tens of thousands of similar claims currently making their way through the U.S. court system, even though other manufacturers of the recalled heartburn drug have agreed to settlements over their role in the development and sale of the drug.

Zantac (ranitidine) was a widely used over-the-counter drug approved for treatment of heartburn and acid reflux, which was sold at different times by GSK, Pfizer, Sanofi, Boehringer Ingelheim and various generic manufacturers, until all versions of the drug were removed from the market more than four years ago.

The Zantac recalls were required by the FDA after it was discovered that the active ingredient in the pills is inherently unstable, and produces high levels of the chemical byproduct N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), which is a known human carcinogen.

As a result of the drug makers’ failure to disclose this risk for years, nearly 100,000 Zantac lawsuits have been presented by former users who developed bladder cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, stomach cancer and other injuries.

The Zantac litigation was initially focused in the federal court system, where claims brought in U.S. District Courts nationwide were centralized before U.S. District Judge Robin L. Rosenberg for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings. However, before the first federal case ever reached trial, Judge Rosenberg issued a controversial ruling excluding all of the plaintiffs’ expert witness testimony, which was needed to establish that Zantac causes cancer.

Judge Rosenberg’s decision was based on an interpretation of the federal rules regarding the admissibility of expert testimony, resulting in the dismissal of all federal Zantac lawsuits. However, the ruling had no impact on tens of claims that continued to be filed in various different state court systems, including Illinois, Delaware and Connecticut, where different standards for the admissibility of expert witness testimony.

Zantac Lawsuit Settlements

Following extensive discovery and pretrial proceedings, Pfizer and Sanofi have already agreed to pay hundreds of millions in Zantac settlements for claims pending in various different state courts. However, GSK has not participated in those agreements.

GSK probably faces the largest liability for its role in the development and sale of Zantac, and continues to dispute that there is scientific evidence establishing that Zantac causes cancer risks. However, it has reached a few settlements to resolve individual claims just before trial.

In a quarterly earnings report (PDF) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this month, GSK indicates that it reached a confidential agreement to settle a claim filed by Ronald Kimbrow in Illinois state court, involving allegations that Zantac caused a prostate cancer diagnosis. However, no details about terms of the settlement have been released.

As part of the settlement, GSK indicates that it did not admit any liability, and outlined it’s intention to continue to defend lawsuits at trial, where it did obtain a defense verdict in one claim that went before an Illinois jury in May. However, a number of additional cases are set for trial over the remainder of 2024 and throughout 2025.