June 9, 2020 – Forty previous Zantac users with cancer asked a court to consolidate their cases in California. The plaintiffs were alleging that Sanofi-Aventis US LLC, Pfizer Inc., and other pharmaceutical companies hid the risks of heartburn drug Zantac. Linking their cases in a coordinated proceeding to consolidate pretrial and trial phases of the cases would align all of the existing cases against the same manufacturers and allow all of the parties to work alongside the Zantac Florida MDL headed by U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg.
One of the plaintiffs is the mother of an 8-year-old boy who alleges that her use of Zantac while pregnant resulted in her son developing testicular cancer. Other complaints allege the drug also resulted in bladder, kidney, prostate, and thyroid cancer. Also, the plaintiffs’ complaints allege that, despite knowing the risks associated with taking Zantac, the companies failed to warn its users and advertised that the drug was safe to take while eating with the foods that would cause the development of the carcinogen.
The lawsuits further claim that GlaxoSmithKline LLC, the first manufacturer of Zantac in the 1970s, worked to discredit studies in the 1980s that showed the drug’s hazardous potential. GSK said it takes the issue very seriously as patient safety is its utmost priority.
Reference: Law360 09 Jun 2020, www.law360.com/articles/1281440/zantac-users-push-to-consolidate-calif-cancer-suits
