Sanofi, Pfizer settle Calif Zantac case set for trial

Bloomberg

Sanofi and Pfizer have agreed to settle a California man’s lawsuit over Zantac in the first case set for trial on claims the heartburn drug can cause cancer.
Sanofi confirmed the deal in a statement, without saying what it had agreed to pay James Goetz to resolve his allegations that Zantac led to his bladder cancer.
“Sanofi settled this case not because it believes these claims have any merit, but rather to avoid the expense and distraction of a trial in California,” the Paris-based company said.
A Pfizer spokesman said the drugmaker had agreed to resolve its own part of the case and had no further comment.
The settlements come after a federal judge in Florida threw out more than 5,000 similar suits this month, saying the scientific evidence behind the Zantac cancer claims was flawed.
The ruling by US District Judge Robin Rosenberg also covers about 50,000 unfiled cases that were gathered before her for pretrial information exchanges.
That still leaves more than 50,000 suits in state courts that plaintiffs’ lawyers say they have filed, alleging drugmakers knew Zantac’s active ingredient, ranitidine, degraded and turned into the potential carcinogen NDMA under certain conditions.
Zantac, which was developed by GSK and Warner-Lambert, hit the US market as a prescription drug in 1983 before becoming an over-the-counter heartburn treatment in 1995.