Authorized: A Chicago jury agreed with GSK that a woman had failed to prove that her colon cancer was due to the heartburn drug Zantac.
British pharmaceutical giant GSK has received a shot in the arm after a US jury rejected a woman’s claims that its heartburn drug Zantac had caused her cancer.
The Chicago jury agreed with GSK that Angela Valadez, 89, had not proven that her colon cancer was, at least in part, a result of Zantac use.
It was the first trial on the issue after thousands of lawsuits were filed with similar allegations. GSK said it welcomed the verdict. He added: “GSK will continue to vigorously defend itself against all other lawsuits.”
Valadez had alleged that his cancer was the result of taking over-the-counter Zantac and generic versions of it between 1995 and 2014.
The lawsuits say its active ingredient, ranitidine, under some conditions converts to a carcinogenic substance called NDMA.
Valadez’s lawyers had asked the jury to award £500m for his suffering. Mikal Watts, one of Valadez’s attorneys, said he respected the verdict but was confident the companies would be held accountable in future lawsuits against Zantac.
“This is a marathon, not a sprint,” he said.
Britain-based GSK, whose predecessor developed the drug but later sold the brand to other companies, and German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim, which sold the drug between 2006 and 2017, were defendants in the trial.