Plaintiffs in Zantac cancer litigation recently experienced a setback. A federal judge threw out a number of claims filed under states' laws. According to the court, the plaintiffs' claims were barred by federal law. The plaintiffs are free to file different, narrower claims in the future.
The Zantac Case So Far
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Zantac cancer lawsuits were consolidated via multidistrict litigation (MDL) in February 2020. They now form MDL 2924, which currently has more than 500 cases. These lawsuits center around the issue of Zantac containing an undeclared carcinogen.
Plaintiffs have made a number of allegations against drug manufacturers, including:
The court's recent ruling dealt with claims filed under state laws. Plaintiffs argued manufacturers of ranitidine (generic Zantac):
However, the court ruled these claims invalid. Manufacturers were effectively barred by federal law from addressing the defective design or warning consumers.
Plaintiffs' attorneys disagreed. They said manufacturers could have changed the expiration date on the drug without violating the law. If the drug had expired sooner, it would have posed less of a threat. This is due to evidence showing carcinogen levels in the drug increase over time.
Apart from finding the claims invalid, the court also accused plaintiffs of making contradictory Zantac claims. Under court precedent, plaintiffs cannot make contradictory claims within the same case.
The court noted plaintiffs claimed the drug was defective at the time of manufacture. This claim stands in opposition to the plaintiffs claim about expiration dates. If the drug was dangerous at the date of manufacture, shortening the time before expiration would not render it safe.
Therefore, these state law-related claims were dismissed.
At this time, it is unclear how attorneys for the plaintiffs will proceed. The court gave a 30-day deadline to file narrower claims. Some reports have suggested plaintiffs will target labeling changes manufacturers could have made legally.
There are still a number of pending claims related to federal law. These federal claims were not addressed in the ruling discussed above. We will continue covering breaking news related to Zantac litigation here in the news section.
