An Illinois woman’s lawsuit claiming she developed colorectal cancer from taking the heartburn drug Zantac for nearly 20 years goes to trial this week — a first among many similar claims made nationwide.
Opening statements are expected Thursday in a jury trial in Cook County circuit court over allegations the over-the-counter drug and its generics have an active ingredient that causes cancer. Jury selection began Tuesday.
Angela Valadez, 89, is suing two pharmaceutical companies, GSK and Boehringer Ingelheim. She alleges that as the drug’s active ingredient, called ranitidine, ages, it turns into a cancer-causing substance called NDMA.
Her case is one of many against GSK, Boehringer Ingelheim and other drug manufacturers like Pfizer and Sanofi.
The original lawsuit involved 11 companies, including Walgreens, and their subsidiaries. Pfizer settled out of court, and the other defendants were dismissed by Cook County Circuit Judge Daniel Trevino, said Valadez’s attorney Ashley Keller.
“She’s very excited to have her day in court,” Keller said.
GSK and Boehringer Ingelheim are the remaining defendants.
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“We are confident in our position based on the facts and science and look forward to presenting our case at trial,” a GSK spokesperson said in a statement.
“Since 2019, there have been 16 peer-reviewed epidemiological studies conducted looking at human data regarding the use of Zantac (ranitidine), and the resulting scientific consensus is that there is no consistent or reliable evidence that ranitidine increases the risk for any type of cancer.”
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In a statement to the Sun-Times, a Boehringer Ingelheim spokesperson also said research does not support the cancer claims.
“The totality of the scientific evidence, which includes numerous recently conducted epidemiological studies, points to only one conclusion: Zantac does not cause any type of cancer. We will continue to defend any allegations otherwise,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
Both companies have said the drug does not cause cancer or contain significant amounts of NDMA under normal conditions, according to Reuters.
The suit calls Zantac a “blockbuster” drug that was marketed as a “safe and effective antacid.” It was used by millions of people every day before the FDA recalled ranitidine in 2020 after NDMA was found in samples of the drug, according to the suit.
This is the first test of whether the cancer claims will persuade a jury. All previous cases set for trials have been dropped or settled, according to Reuters.
Valadez says in the suit she regularly took Zantac and its generic versions from 1995 to 2014. She’d buy the drug from Walgreens. She was later diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
But she only learned the drug might have caused her cancer when she saw an advertisement warning consumers about the risks.
“Customers aren’t usually following medical literature or FDA recalls,” Keller said. “They usually have to learn from lawyers like us reaching out to clients.”
The suit alleges ranitidine transforms over time into NDMA both within the human body and during transportation and storage of the drug. The drug manufacturers knew about these cancer-causing risks, yet continued to market the drug as safe to make a profit, the suit claims.
GSK and Boehringer Ingelheim made the name-brand version of the drug.
Zantac, first approved in 1983, became the first drug to top $1 billion in annual sales, according to the suit. It was originally marketed by GSK and later sold to other companies.
