GSK Settles Zantac Cases After Claims Popular Heartburn Drug Causes Cancer
ForbesAPR 20 2023
The settlement includes three "bellwether" breast cancer cases in California, resulting in GSK's dismissal from these cases and related pre-trial hearings, though the company maintains this is not an admission of liability.Pharmaceutical giant GSK has reached a confidential settlement for four lawsuits in the US claiming its heartburn drug Zantac causes cancer, including the Cantlay/Harper case set for trial in California next month.
Zantac, originally developed by Glaxo Holdings in the 1980s, became a blockbuster drug, topping $1 billion in annual sales and was later marketed by other pharmaceutical companies including Haleon, Sanofi, and Pfizer.The settlement includes three "bellwether" breast cancer cases in California, resulting in GSK's dismissal from these cases and related pre-trial hearings, though the company maintains this is not an admission of liability.
In 2019, health regulators investigated Zantac over concerns it contained NDMA, a probable carcinogen, leading to voluntary market withdrawals and an FDA order in 2020 to pull all ranitidine drugs from the market.Zantac, first sold in the US in 1983, became a blockbuster drug in 1988, topping $1B in annual sales. Different pharmaceutical companies, including Sanofi and Pfizer, later marketed it.
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The settlements indicate GSK's awareness of potential liability. The FDA's findings that Zantac produces NDMA over time, which can cause cancer in large quantities, support the plaintiffs' claims. The massive number of pending lawsuits suggests widespread concern about the drug's safety.
There's a 50% chance that the average survival rate of all cancers will exceed 75% by 2029, according to the Metaculus prediction community.