Boost for GSK as US court rejects woman’s claims that heartburn drug Zantac caused her cancer
Cleared: A Chicago jury agreed with GSK that a woman had failed to prove her colon cancer was due to the heartburn drug Zantac
British pharmaceutical giant GSK got a shot in the arm after a US jury rejected a woman’s claim that heartburn drug Zantac caused her cancer.
The Chicago jury agreed with GSK that Angela Valadez, 89, had not proven that her colon cancer was at least partly the result of her use of Zantac.
It was the first lawsuit on the issue after thousands of lawsuits were filed making similar allegations. GSK said it welcomed the verdict. It added: ‘GSK will continue to vigorously defend itself against any other claims.’
Valadez had claimed that her cancer resulted from using over-the-counter Zantac and generic versions of it from 1995 to 2014.
According to the lawsuits, the active ingredient, ranitidine, turns into a carcinogen called NDMA under certain conditions.
Lawyers for Valadez had asked the jury to award £500 million for her suffering. Mikal Watts, one of Valadez’s attorneys, said he respected the verdict but was confident the companies would be held accountable in future Zantac lawsuits.
“This is a marathon, not a sprint,” he said.
Britain’s GSK, whose predecessor developed the drug but later sold the brand to other companies, and German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim, which sold the drug from 2006 to 2017, were the defendants in the lawsuit.