Aug 13, 2021
Zantac Links To Cancer Law Suits
Zantac is is one of many medications used to decrease the symptoms of heartburn and acid reflux. In exchange,however,some patients might develop cancer or experience Zantac cancer symptoms. If you or a loved one has already taken Zantac,learn what your legal options are by talking with an experienced product liability lawyer today.
The risk of cancer from Zantac use is simply too great to ignore. We are a national law firm focused on holding manufacturers of dangerous drugs responsible for their corporate negligence. Our Zantac cancer lawyers believe that Sanofi failed to warn consumers of the unacceptable levels of a potential human carcinogen (a substance that promotes the formation of cancer). a medication used to treat ulcers and acid reflux,as well as heartburn. It is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (a United Kingdom company),and is also available in generic form.
Write a blog post about aboveLawyers Allege Zantac Use Caused Cancer
Lawsuits allege that Zantac use caused cancer. In exchange,however,some patients might develop cancer or experience Zantac cancer symptoms. If you or a loved one has already taken Zantac,learn what your legal options are by talking with an experienced product liability lawyer today. The risk of cancer from Zantac use is simply too great to ignore. We are a national law firm focused on holding manufacturers of dangerous drugs responsible for their corporate negligence. Our Zantac cancer lawyers believe that Sanofi failed to warn consumers of the unacceptable levels of a potential human carcinogen (a substance that promotes the formation of cancer). A medication used to treat ulcers and acid reflux,as well as heartburn. It is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (a United Kingdom company),and is also available in generic form.
The Three Zantac Lawsuit Cases
In the first of these cases,a physician named John Knight claims that he suffered from esophageal cancer after taking Zantac for over three years. He also claims that the drug`s warning label failed to adequately warn him of a known risk of cancer.
In a second lawsuit,Debbie Manelli alleges she suffered from esophageal cancer after regularly using Zantac to treat acid reflux and heartburn. She had been taking the medication for over ten years.
In the third case,a woman who is identified only as “S.B.” claims that she also developed esophageal cancer after taking Zantac for several years. The suit says that her doctor even warned her of the potential link between Zantac use and cancer — but she did not stop using the drug.
The three cases are part of a greater wave of Zantac lawsuits filed against Sanofi and GSK. This first wave of lawsuits only included claims from consumers who developed cancer after taking the drug as prescribed,not from those who were using Zantac for off-label purposes. But more lawsuits could be on the way that allege that the drug`s label also hid the link between Zantac use and cancer in non-cancer patients,including those who took Zantac for other purposes.
If you are like most people,you may have never heard of a “human carcinogen” before. In a nutshell,this term refers to anything that can cause cancer in humans. Most human carcinogens are substances that pose a relatively small risk of causing cancer. But others,like the chemical used in Zantac,are enough to cause cancer.
The Chemical Used in Zantac is a Human Carcinogen
The drug`s active ingredient — ranitidine hydrochloride — is manufactured using a chemical called nitrosamine. Nitrosamines have been known to cause cancer in laboratory animals for many years. Furthermore,in the 1970s a scientific study showed that nitrosamines can also cause cancer in humans. The FDA has issued warnings about this troubling fact since 1981 — and the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of a link between nitrosamines and cancer since 1988. Because of these and other studies,the WHO has also classified nitrosamine as a human carcinogen.
Yet the FDA didn`t classify ranitidine hydrochloride as a potential human carcinogen until November 2011. And even after doing so,the regulatory agency said that this classification was based on information from animal studies alone — not studies of humans. In other words,the FDA didn`t say that there were any conclusive data showing a link between Zantac and cancer in humans.
Since Zantac was introduced to the market nearly four decades ago,some scientific studies have found an association between it and cancer. Others have found no link at all.
In July 2012,the Zantac manufacturer GSK finally released a statement admitting that “it is plausible” that ranitidine hydrochloride can cause cancer. The FDA has not taken any action against GlaxoSmithKline or Sanofi in response to this admission.
What Does This Mean for Zantac Lawsuits?
The FDA`s decision to classify ranitidine hydrochloride as a potential human carcinogen opens the door to more Zantac lawsuits and helps legitimized claims that Zantac caused cancer. But it doesn`t mean that everyone who took Zantac will be able to collect compensation in a lawsuit.
If you were diagnosed with esophageal cancer after taking Zantac,you may be able to go after GlaxoSmithKline or Sanofi in a lawsuit. To do so,you will need to prove that:
– The cancer was caused by ranitidine hydrochloride
– This link is not only plausible but also scientifically proven
– You were taking the drug at the time your cancer developed
– You used Zantac properly was not using it off-label
– The length of time between taking the drug and getting cancer is long enough (this period is known as a “latency period” — more on this below)
Proving that your esophageal cancer was caused by the ranitidine hydrochloride in Zantac will be difficult. But it certainly isn`t impossible,especially if you had no risk factors for cancer but took the drug anyway.
One of the ways Zantac`s manufacturer may try to avoid responsibility is by claiming that there was a “latency period” between when you started taking the drug and when your esophageal cancer developed. According to the FDA,a latency period is any time between exposure to a risk factor and the development of cancer.
Under normal circumstances,it shouldn`t take very long for esophageal cancer to develop after you begin taking Zantac. After all,you are only supposed to take it for up to eight weeks at a time. So it`s fair to say that if you get esophageal cancer after taking Zantac,there could only be a small amount of time between when you took the drug and when your cancer developed.
There is no hard-fast rule about what length of time constitutes a “latency period.” But according to experts,anything longer than 10 years would be considered unusual.
But in some cases,patients have gotten esophageal cancer after taking Zantac for longer than 10 years — or even 40 to 50 years! It seems clear that these individuals developed their cancers as a result of taking Zantac.
If you took Zantac before 2011 and you were diagnosed with esophageal cancer in the last 10 years,it is worth investigating whether your exposure to Zantac played a role in your development of cancer.
The first step is talking to a lawyer about getting an advanced review of your case.
– Contributed by
| Mullen & Mullen |