A Delaware judge threw out lawsuits seeking to link the heartburn drug Zantac to cancer, freeing makers of the product from facing trials in the state over the cases.
Superior Court Judge Francis “Pete” Jones concluded Monday lawyers for ex-Zantac users couldn’t produce legitimate evidence backing up claims the over-the-counter product caused cancer. Zantac is currently made by French drugmaker Sanofi.
Jones found the Zantac plaintiffs’ were not entitled to a second chance at amending their claims because they failed to meet statutory requirements to prove allegations that the cancers were caused by the medication.
“This court concluded the plaintiffs were not entitled to a mulligan in the face of Delaware’s clear and existing law on causation that plaintiffs were unable to meet,” he said in a 17-page ruling.
It’s the second time in the case a Delaware judge has scrutinized evidence alleging Zantac makers knew the heartburn treatment, and its main ingredient ranitidine, caused 10 types of cancer, including breast, stomach and colon, and failed to warn users.
Because former Zantac owners GSK Plc, Pfizer Inc., Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals already have settled thousands of Zantac suits over the last several years, it’s unclear how many Delaware cases will be dismissed by Jones’ order. GSK paid more than $2 billion in 2024 to resolve what it said was more than 90% of its pending cases.
Sanofi said Jones’ ruling means there are no more cases against the company in Delaware. “Sanofi previously settled the majority of cases pending against it in state court without any concession of liability, not because it believes the claims have any merit, but rather to avoid the expense and ongoing distraction of the litigation,” the company said in an emailed statement.
GSK said that Jones’ order effectively ends the Zantac lawsuits in Delaware. “The scientific consensus is that there is no consistent or reliable evidence that ranitidine increases the risk of any cancer,” the company said.
Pfizer said that the company has sympathy for plaintiffs, but “believes that Zantac is not the cause of injuries alleged in this litigation, a conclusion supported by numerous studies and reinforced by defense outcomes in trials across the country.”
Boehringer, a US unit of Germany-based Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, said the decision, “consistent with rulings from courts nationwide, follows nine jury trials in which plaintiffs failed to prove their case against Boehringer.”
Plaintiffs claimed the firms knew ranitidine transformed into the carcinogen NDMA if not kept properly cool. In 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration asked companies to remove all ranitidine-based products. Regulators allowed Sanofi to bring Zantac back on the market in 2025 after replacing its active ingredient.
Delaware Superior Court Judge Vivian Medinilla cleared the Zantac claims for trial in 2024, but the Delaware Supreme Court overturned that ruling the following year. The state’s highest court, however, said another judge could review the cancer evidence’s legitimacy. Jones replaced Medinilla, who had retired, in overseeing the cases.
In dismissing the cases, Jones followed the lead of a federal judge in Florida, who threw out more than 50,000 Zantac suits after finding the science behind the cancer claims was flawed. Still, state court judges in California and Illinois have said similar evidence met sufficiency tests to go to trial.
A Georgia-based federal appeals court currently is weighing whether to overturn the federal judge’s findings in the Multidistrict Litigation case that the evidence wasn’t adequate to warrant giving plaintiffs a trial. Many of the Florida cases were refiled in state court in Delaware. At one time, more than 80,000 Zantac plaintiffs had sued in the state. Many of those cases have settled or been voluntarily dismissed, according to court files.
Zantac plaintiffs lawyers urged Jones in court filings to wait for the 11th US Circuit Court’s ruling on whether the federal judge in Florida had botched her evidentiary ruling before deciding the issue in the Delaware cases.
“Plaintiffs are correct that the MDL decision played a role in this court’s decision,” Jones said in his ruling. But the federal case “did not play a sufficient role enough for this court to defer ruling” on the companies’ requests for dismissals, he added.
The case is IN RE Zantac Litigation, No. N22C-09-101 ZAN, Delaware Superior Court (Wilmington).
Photo: A senior research associate prepares to test a bottle of Zantac 150. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg
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