Most Zantac lawsuits were initially focused in the federal court system, where claims brought in U.S. District Courts nationwide were centralized before U.S. District Judge Robin L. Rosenberg for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings. However, before the first federal case ever reached trial, Judge Rosenberg issued a controversial ruling determining that there was not sufficiently reliable expert testimony to establish that Zantac caused any cancer diagnosis among plaintiffs.
Judge Rosenberg’s decision was based on an interpretation of the federal rules regarding the admissibility of expert testimony, resulting in the dismissal of all federal Zantac lawsuits. However, the ruling had no impact on claims that continued to be filed in various different state court systems, including Delaware, Illinois and Connecticut, where judges have already determined that different standards for the admissibility of expert witness testimony apply.
While the dismissal of the federal claims is still pending on appeal, the GSK Zantac settlement is expected to resolve the vast majority of all claims pending in state courts nationwide. However, the individual plaintiffs must still accept their offers, and the whistleblower settlement involving Valisure must be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice.
“GSK has not admitted any liability in the State Courts Settlement or in the agreement in principle for the Qui Tam Settlement,” the press release states. “While the scientific consensus remains that there is no consistent or reliable evidence that ranitidine increases the risk of any cancer, GSK strongly believes that these settlements are in the best long-term interests of the company and its shareholders as they remove significant financial uncertainty, risk and distraction associated with protracted litigation.”
The drug maker has faced several Zantac trials in Illinois state court, where the first two cases to go before a jury ended in a defense verdict, but GSK was expected to face a steady stream of future trials if this global settlement were not reached.
GSK is at least the third major drug manufacturer to reach an agreement to settle Zantac cancer lawsuits. Following extensive discovery and pretrial proceedings, Pfizer and Sanofi previously agreed to pay hundreds of millions in Zantac settlements to resolve their role in the development and marketing of the heartburn drug. However, GSK did not participate in those agreements, and faced the largest remaining liability in the litigation.