If you were diagnosed with cancer after taking Zantac, you may be eligible to pursue compensation for damages, including medical expenses, loss of income, and pain and suffering. At O’Connor, Acciani & Levy, we have reviewed several studies that indicate a link between Zantac and certain cancers, and we are ready to review your unique situation to determine whether you may have grounds for a class action lawsuit. If your case has merit and you choose to pursue a lawsuit, there are no upfront costs for retaining the services of our Cincinnati Zantac lawyers. We only collect our fees if we are successful in recovering compensation on your behalf. Our experienced defective drug attorneys at O’Connor, Acciani & Levy offer a free legal consultation to review your potential claim. During this opportunity, we invite you to ask questions about the legal process. We have more than 20 years of experience and have won millions in compensation for our clients.
DO I HAVE AN ELIGIBLE CASE?
Every case is different, so it is difficult to say whether your case may be valid without understanding all of the contributing factors in your situation. However, we are available to review your specific circumstances in our free consultation. There are a variety of factors we need to consider to determine if you may have a case:- What brand of ranitidine (generic form of Zantac) you were taking and for how long
- What state you were living in at the time you were taking ranitidine or Zantac
- How long after taking this prescription before you were diagnosed with cancer (generally it must be less than 10 years)
- How long you were taking the medication (generally, adults must have been taking the medication for one year or more)
- Whether you were ever diagnosed with any form of cancer prior to taking Zantac
- Bladder cancer
- Kidney cancer
- Brain cancer
- Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
- Colon and rectal cancer
- Testicular cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Ovarian Cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
- Lung cancer
- And more
WHAT IS THE VALUE OF MY CASE?
If we determine you may have a claim, you may be eligible to recover compensation for damages, including:- Reasonable and related medical costs
- Loss of income if you were unable to work
- Future lost earning capacity
- Permanent or temporary disability
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium
HISTORY OF ZANTAC AND FDA WARNINGS ABOUT CANCER RISKS
Ranitidine, including the Zantac brand, is one of many histamine-2 blockers used to help reduce the production of stomach acid and treat heartburn. Zantac has also been used to prevent ulcers and treat problems caused by acid over-production from other stomach conditions, such as gastroesophageal reflux (GERD). The drug first hit the U.S. market in 1983 after receiving approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In just a few years, it became one of the best-selling drugs on the market. Between 2007 and 2017, health care providers wrote approximately 15 million prescriptions for Zantac each year. In September 2019, the FDA announced that some ranitidine drugs, including Zantac, contained elevated and potentially harmful levels of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). NDMA is classified by the FDA as a nitrosamine impurity and a probable human carcinogen, and lab tests showed NDMA levels were between 3,000 and 26,000 times higher than what the FDA considers to be safe.VOLUNTARY RECALLS OF RANITIDINE
Just days after the FDA announcement, the pharmaceutical company, Sandoz Inc., issued voluntary recalls of 14 lots of prescription ranitidine. In October 2019, the FDA announced more voluntary recalls by the following companies:- Perrigo Company plc
- Novitium Pharma LLC
- Lannett Company, Inc.
STUDIES ON ZANTAC AND CANCER
There was evidence of a potential link between Zantac and different types of cancer long before the FDA alert about NDMA. As far back as 2004, research revealed a higher risk of bladder cancer among those taking Zantac for the treatment of peptic ulcers. Twelve years later, researchers at Stanford University gave 10 people 150 milligrams of Zantac and tested their urine for NDMA. They found the volunteers’ urine had 47,000 nanograms of NDMA. Sanofi conducted a meta-analysis of research on the link between acid-suppressing drugs and gastric cancer. Although Sanofi said the results did not show a statistically significant association, the research did show a higher risk of gastric cancer.ZANTAC LAWSUITS THAT HAVE BEEN FILED
In 2019, Sanofi was served with a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. This lawsuit alleges Sanofi actively took steps to conceal the risk of cancer and continued to produce a medication with a probable carcinogen for millions of patients. Several more lawsuits have been filed making similar allegations against Sanofi, this includes individual personal injury cases and consumer class actions. One of the lawsuits was filed by a man in Florida who was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2017. He took Zantac four to five times each week. Another plaintiff filed a lawsuit in October 2019 because this person was diagnosed with bladder cancer after taking Zantac over a period of 23 years. Over 140 lawsuits were sent to the Southern District of Florida in February 2020 by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict LitigationSYMPTOMS FROM NDMA OVER-EXPOSURE
If you have been taking Zantac or ranitidine for a year or longer, you may have been exposed to high levels of NDMA. We recommend contacting your physician immediately if you begin to experience certain adverse symptoms or side effects, including:- Severe and unexplained headaches
- Unrelated fever
- Abdominal cramping and diarrhea
- Nausea and vomiting unrelated to other illness
- An enlarged liver
- Reduced functionality of lungs and / or kidneys
- Dizziness
- Jaundice
- Internal bleeding
