The drug, Zantac, manufactured and distributed by Sanofi, is the subject of a great deal of recent public scrutiny and litigation. Zantac is said to have caused cancer in thousands of Americans who took the drug. As a result, the injured parties are pushing back.
With the ongoing lawsuits against Sanofi regarding the prescription medication, many people who took the drug and suffered injuries are trying to decide if they should file a claim for damages—and how they should do so. If you are one of those people, the experienced professionals at Gerling Law Injury Attorneys can help you out.
One of the primary questions that we get regarding Zantac injuries is, should I join the Zantac class action lawsuit? The answer to this question depends on the circumstances of your own case and your claim for damages. Class action lawsuits have their advantages and their disadvantages. To help you put some thought into which direction you want to take your claim in a Zantac cancer lawsuit, we put together this quick guide.
Among other things, we will discuss potential Zantac lawsuit payouts, the pros and cons of joining a class action, and why the Zantac cancer lawsuits exist in the first place. If you are reading this article and think you have a claim, it is crucially important that you take legal action as soon as possible. The cutoff for the class action lawsuit is September 2021, and you don’t want to miss out.
What Is Wrong With Zantac?
Zantac is Sanofi’s trademarked name of the drug, ranitidine. Ranitidine medications were a common treatment for heartburn for quite some time. That is until concerns over cancer started to arise. In 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), requested that all manufacturers of ranitidine-based drugs withdraw their drugs from the market immediately.
The FDA’s announcement came after an investigation into the drug and a specific contaminant contained therein. The FDA found dangerously high levels of N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), the contaminant in question, in many ranitidine products. The unacceptable NDMA levels were particularly high in medications stored above room temperature.
While the NDMA levels in ranitidine drugs stored at room temperature were lower than others, they were still unacceptable concentrations.
The Harmful Effects of NDMA
NDMA is a known cancer-causing agent (or carcinogen). Like many other carcinogens, it is present in many food and water sources. Generally, at such low levels, consumption of NDMA does not amount to a problem. However, the levels found in Zantac were far beyond an acceptable level.
As a result of the high NDMA concentrations, countless individuals have developed cancer of various kinds. If you developed cancer after taking Zantac for more than a couple of months, you likely have a legitimate claim for damages from Sanofi.
Class Action Lawsuits
Generally speaking, class action lawsuits are a way to streamline litigation. When many claimants file similar claims against a given party, those claims are often consolidated into a single claim. The name “class action” stems from the fact that there is a defined group of people (a class) that can join the claim.
If you meet the requirements for the “class” in a given class-action suit, you can join it and recover your share of the damages you suffered. The “class” in the Sanofi Zantac class-action lawsuit is anyone who can demonstrate that they:
- Took Zantac for a continuous period of one year or more; and
- Developed one of the following types of cancer after taking the drug:
- Colorectal cancer,
- Esophageal cancer,
- Liver cancer,
- Intestine cancer,
- Stomach cancer,
- Early-onset prostate cancer,
- Leukemia, or
- Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
If you meet the noted criteria but don’t see the specific type of cancer you developed in the list above, don’t worry. The provided list is not exhaustive, so other types of cancer may still meet the requirements to join the class action.
Come talk to us at Gerling Law Injury Attorneys, and we will help you assess your individual situation.
Pros and Cons of Class Actions
Class actions have a lot of advantages, but they also have their own disadvantages. Thus, it is important to consider both options when deciding which direction you want to take your claim.
Perhaps the biggest advantage to class action lawsuits lies in their efficiency. Filing a legal claim through a class action lawsuit often costs significantly less than filing an individual civil claim. Your attorney has considerably less work to do when joining a class action claim than they do filing an individual claim for damages.
Class actions, as a whole, are also more efficient in moving through the legal process than individual claims. Instead of a judge and jury having to decide 2,000 individual cases, they can judge just one case. While a class-action case will move slower than one individual claim, a class action will move through the court system faster than 2,000 individual claims.
Finally, class actions offer claimants more of a guarantee of damage recovery than individual claims. This is because, in order for class action claims to move forward, they should have a fairly robust chance of success.
The main drawback to class-action lawsuits is that there is little room for nuance in separating your case from the others. As a result, if you suffered severe damages, your share of the class action damages may not fully cover your damages. To this same end (and same disadvantage), when you accept compensation through a class-action lawsuit, any claim to future damages is null.
If you battled cancer on and off for 10 years after taking Zantac, for example, your damages may far exceed that of a ‘typical’ class member. Thus, if you find yourself in such a situation, you may want to consider filing an individual claim. If you do, it is far more likely that your Zantac lawsuit payout will fully compensate you for your damages.
Regardless of What You Decide
Whether or not you decide to join the Zantac class-action lawsuit, we at Gerling Law Injury Attorneys are here to help. First, we can help you carefully weigh the circumstances of your individual case to determine what is best for your situation. After that, we will advocate for you throughout the entire process.
The team at Gerling Law Injury Attorneys pride ourselves on the experience we bring to the table. From tense courtroom litigation in large cases to amicable negotiations in smaller claims, we have seen it all. As a result, with our team on your side, you don’t have to worry about any surprises.
You deserve compensation for all of the damages you suffered, and we will do everything in our power to make that happen. Contact us today for your free consultation!
Go with Experience. Go with Gerling. ®
Gayle Gerling Pettinga
Born and raised in Evansville, Gayle is a respected, experienced lawyer and a valued community leader. She graduated near the top of her class at Indiana University’s prestigious Maurer School of Law. She’s practiced law with one of the largest firms in Indianapolis as well as one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. And that means she knows how big law firms and big companies think and how they operate – and she will put that knowledge to work for you.
Gayle has received numerous awards and honors including Martindale-Hubbell — Peer Review Rated: AV®, American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys 10 Best Attorneys in Indiana for Exceptional and Outstanding Client Service, and YWCA Evansville 100 Years, 100 Women Honoree, 2011.
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