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A Chicago jury rejected an Illinois woman’s claim that the discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused her colon cancer. This case is the first of thousands of similar lawsuits.
The jury in Cook County, Illinois, found that Angela Valadez, an 89-year-old Illinois resident, did not prove her cancer was linked to her Zantac use.
Related: GSK Concealed Risk Associated With Discontinued Heart Burn Drug Zantac, Whistleblower Lawsuit Claims.
Valadez alleged that her cancer resulted from taking over-the-counter Zantac and its generic versions from 1995 to 2014.
Her attorneys sought $640 million for her suffering, arguing that Zantac’s active ingredient, ranitidine, could transform into the cancer-causing substance NDMA under certain conditions.
However, the judge did not allow Valadez to seek punitive damages.
GSK Plc (NYSE:GSK) and Boehringer Ingelheim argued that scientific evidence did not support claims that Zantac causes cancer.
During the trial, Valadez’s attorneys argued that the companies knew about the risks of ranitidine turning into NDMA but did not ensure proper handling by transporters, distributors, and stores.
Reuters noted that attorneys for GSK and Boehringer maintained that Zantac was safe and effective, with no scientific or medical study linking it to cancer.
They also contested the evidence that Valadez had taken Zantac for 18 years and highlighted her other risk factors for colon cancer.
The jury concluded that Valadez had indeed taken Zantac but failed to prove it caused her cancer.
Several cases were previously settled, including 4,000 state court lawsuits against Sanofi SA (NASDAQ:SNY), which has marketed Zantac since 2017. Sanofi now sells a reformulated version, Zantac360, which uses famotidine instead of ranitidine.
Recently, Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) agreed to settle over 10,000 Zantac lawsuits.
Price Action: GSK shares are up 0.09% at $45.19 at last check Friday.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
