70,000 Cancer Patients Sue GSK and Other Pharma Giants, Zantac Stomach Drug Cloud Rises Again!

The Delaware Supreme Court announced on Tuesday that it would rehear an appeal brought by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and several other pharmaceutical companies. The companies are trying to end more than 70,000 lawsuits over a link between Zantac, the stomach drug they once sold, and cancer. GSK, Pfizer, Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim had asked to overturn a lower court decision that allowed the plaintiffs to present expert evidence related to cancer. The drug companies maintain that the evidence lacks scientific support and that without it it would be difficult to proceed.

In Delaware, Zantac-related lawsuits have yet to go to trial or reach a final decision. The state's highest judicial body only deliberates on appeals in certain circumstances before making a final decision. Glaxosmithkline (GSK) said in its official statement that it was pleased by the Supreme Court's decision that the case was of an exceptional nature. The plaintiffs' legal representatives, Attorney Jennifer Moore and Attorney Brent Wisner, issued a joint statement expressing firm confidence that the Supreme Court would uphold the trial court's decision. Business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have petitioned the Supreme Court to take up the case, expressing concern about the possible consequences of the lower court's ruling, which they fear will make Delaware a hub for mass tort lawsuits.

After being approved by U.S. regulators in 1983, Zantac became a top-selling drug in 1988 and ranks among the billion-dollar drugs in annual sales. The four companies, all of which sold the drug at various times, are facing thousands of lawsuits. The lawsuit originated in 2020, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked manufacturers to pull Zantac from the market because its active ingredient, ranitidine, could be converted to NDMA, a carcinogen. Currently, three Zantac cases have gone to trial in Illinois, two of which have been decided in favor of the defendants and one is pending.