Zantac Associated with Breast Cancer

May 20, 2020, 10:00AM. By Jane Mundy

Zantac Breast Cancer Lawsuits filed, 12 years after a “smoking gun” study found a connection between Zantac and breast cancer.

Santa Clara, CASeveral Zantac breast cancer lawsuits have been filed against the drug manufacturers, 12 years after a peer-reviewed study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center linked Zantac with breast cancer.

The Zantac Breast Cancer Study

The study, authored by the American Association for Cancer Research and American Society of Preventive Oncology back in 2008 concluded that the “current use of ranitidine may increase risk of hormone receptor-positive ductal carcinoma,” which is a type of breast cancer. The study found that individuals who regularly took Zantac increased their risk of developing breast cancer by 240% compared to those who didn’t.

Currently, the Sloane Memorial Cancer Center is conducting research to determine which specific cancers Zantac contaminated with NDMA may cause.

Roughly 12 years after the study, in April 2020, the FDA finally pulled ranitidine medicines, including the popular heartburn med Zantac, off the market. Four months earlier, the agency recalled prescription forms of ranitidine by two generic drug companies, bringing the total number of ranitidine recalls to 14 in the past five months, all because of NDMA.

These recalls were a cause of alarm for 15 million people who regularly take prescription Zantac, and concerning to more than 60 million Americans who take the heartburn med at least once a month. Breastcancer.org blogged to its 200,000 members the recalls, adding that the FDA said the levels detected would be “unlikely” to increase the risk of developing cancer. But the FDA is sending mixed messages: it warned on September 13 about the “new studies showing a risk to human health” and that NDMA is a "probable carcinogen in Zantac”. The words “probable” and “unlikely” are not the same…

Now, several breast cancer patients have filed lawsuits against the Zantac drug maker.

Breast Cancer Lawsuits

A Florida resident, Joseph G., was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013. Since 2009 he had regularly taken Zantac for frequent heartburn. His lawsuit against the drug maker Sanofi, which has been grouped into multidistrict litigation (MDL), alleges that Zantac caused his breast cancer diagnosis, noting statistics on his low risk for being diagnosed with this type of cancer otherwise. “Despite their knowledge of the risks of cancer associated with Ranitidine and Zantac … Defendants continued to represent that Ranitidine products, including Zantac, did not pose any risks of cancer or other serious health conditions,” stated in Galimidi v. Sanofi et al. The lawsuit alleges that “While his heartburn was healed, Zantac — laden with N-Nitrososdimethylamine (“NDMA”), a probable human carcinogen — wreaked havoc in his body and led to his breast cancer,”  and Galimidi argues that Sanofi had plenty of time to study the link and warn the public, but it did not.

Another Florida resident, Jill Goldstein, filed a Zantac lawsuit against the four leading pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the drug, according to the Palm Beach Post Golstein claims that regularly using Zantac for two decades also led to her breast cancer diagnosis. Her complaint references the 2008 study (above) that shows a potential link between Zantac and breast cancer, calling it “a smoking gun”. Her attorney said that, “If only the makers of Zantac had put aside their greed and heeded the 2008 peer-reviewed study … Jill Goldstein would not be going through the hell that she is subjected to now.”

Many more Zantac lawsuits and Zantac class-action lawsuits have already been filed in courts nationwide, claiming that the manufacturers knew or should have known about the presence of NDMA in their products, yet they failed to warn consumers or healthcare providers.