We all rely on various medications to treat us from the health conditions we suffer from. However, most of us do not pay keen attention to the contents of the medicine we use since we trust the manufacturers, who are the experts in this field, to provide us safe medications. The FDA is mandated to monitor the various medicines available in the market today and warn consumers if any of them fails to meet the health and safety standards required.
In recent years, we have had cases of different medications being withdrawn from the market due to their side effects. Most notably, Zantac, a popular drug used to treat ulcers, was removed from the market due to its connection to various cancer cases. If you were using this medication for a long time and developed cancer, it is prudent to contact an experienced mass tort lawyer in New York at Cellino Law to guide you on the steps that ensue. Cancer is a serious medical condition, and you should not suffer due to another entity’s negligence. It is only right that you get compensated for the damages you sustained.
What is Ranitidine?
Ranitidine comes from a family of drugs called histamine-2 blockers. It helps to reduce the amount of acid produced in the stomach. It was commonly used to treat and prevent ulcers in the digestive tract. It was also used to treat conditions tied to too much acid production, such as Zollinger-Ellison syndrome and gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Zantac Side Effects
For many years, Zantac was seen to work effectively on most patients with minimal side effects. However, a few people experienced side effects such as headache, constipation, and diarrhea, things that are not out of the ordinary owing to how this drug acts on the digestive system. It was recommended that your doctor needs to assess your health condition before prescribing Zantac, as they should weigh the benefits and downsides. This is key even if the drug was available on a self-prescription basis. People who were given the green light to use Zantac were those whose physicians determined that the benefits of the drug were more than the downsides of using it.
Another side effect that was very rare and seen in a small percentage of those who used it was an allergic reaction that manifested itself in the form of a rash, swelling, and trouble breathing.
Has Zantac Been Recalled?
On 1st April 2020, the United States Food and Drug Administration requested all manufacturers to withdraw all prescription and over the counter ranitidine medications from the market immediately. This resulted from concerns surrounding the components of this medicine and how it is linked to cancer.
While there are still investigations being carried out on the components of this drug, several red flags have been raised over a contaminant called Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) present in ranitidine medications. It was established that the impurity in certain ranitidine products increases with time, especially when kept under conditions with high temperatures. This way, the temperature increases the level of this impurity, which poses a considerable health risk to consumers.
From the statement released by the FDA, many samples did not contain unacceptable levels of this impurity. However, it cannot be known how and for how long the drug had been stored, and to avoid any issues, it was prudent to recall all products in the market.
It was necessary to recall this drug since NDMA is a carcinogen and can cause cancer. The investigation that kicked off in 2019 spotted some little levels of NDMA in this drug but didn’t warrant any cause for alarm since low levels are ingested and cannot harm anyone. However, sustained exposure to high levels of NDMA can increase the risk of cancer. At that time, there was no sufficient evidence to give a directive regarding this substance. However, as the investigations progressed, tests ascertained that NDMA levels in ranitidine increased in samples stored at high temperatures. It also showed that the older a ranitidine product is, the higher the levels of NDMA it contains.
Are There Ongoing Lawsuits Against the Manufacturer of Zantac?
All the lawsuits against the manufacturers of Zantac are part of multidistrict litigation. These are special federal legal procedures that are meant to expedite the process of handling complicated cases such as product liability suits. Most of them are against Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim, a major manufacturer of Zantac.
However, the cases are expected to rise steadily since more people who had developed cancer and utilized this medicine at some point have some basis to sue for compensation. This is also due in part to how this drug was used commonly in the past few years.
Discovery has been opened in the lawsuits against these drugmakers, and it is a critical phase as it will determine how these lawsuits will turn out. This is a phase where both sides will be given a chance to ask questions to try and gather evidence that will either help their case or their defense. This is done through interrogations, requests for documents, and medical records, among others. Fact discovery is expected to be completed in December 2021, where there will be sufficient information to guide on how these lawsuits will be handled as they come up.
While this matter is still new and such complex cases are seen to take a lot of time, do not be skeptical about approaching an experienced lawyer to handle yours if you have been using the drug and develop cancer. As developments are being made, your case must lie amongst those in contention to benefit from a favorable ruling if you wish to be compensated.
How Long do You Have to File a Zantac Lawsuit in New York?
Since this is a new mass lawsuit, you need to file for a lawsuit as soon as you establish that you meet the criteria for a Zantac case. One of the things to check is if you used a ranitidine product for six months or longer. The second criterion is if you were diagnosed with either liver, stomach, bladder, intestinal, colorectal, or esophageal cancer.
If you meet these two, ensure that you file for a lawsuit as soon as possible. Note that suits are not expected to be settled until around 2022, as seen with many complex product liability cases. This way, it might be unrealistic to file for one and expect to get a quick resolution.
How Can a Lawyer Help a Zantac Lawsuit?
If you are diagnosed with cancer, your oncologist won’t be in a position to tell you what exactly caused it. However, if you have used ranitidine for a long time and have now developed cancer, it is in your interest to contact a lawyer for help with your Zantac lawsuit in New York. They will help you to determine whether you have a valid Zantac cancer lawsuit or not.
Since these cases are coming up, we are continually reviewing cases related to ranitidine and cancer. This way, we will be happy to hear you out and check your claims to see if they warrant a lawsuit or not.
Understand that product liability cases involving unsafe drugs are very complicated and entail in-depth research, use of expert witnesses, presentation of scientific evidence, and litigation processes that could result in compensation amounts that could go well into the billions.
Drug companies always fight back hard when faced with such massive lawsuits and do not expect the manufacturers of Zantac to compensate the affected people happily. They will try and exploit the laws governing these lawsuits to see that they spread the blame to generic manufacturers or get away with it altogether. This way, you need to enlist the services of a reliable lawyer if you want to increase the chances of being compensated, as it is apparent that not everyone will be awarded a compensation amount.
Your lawyer will handle everything about this case and ensure that once the matter is solved and there is some light at the end of it, you will be compensated.
How Much Will a Lawyer Cost?
You might be wondering how much you will be required to pay our attorneys at Cellino law to handle your case. Well, we won’t charge you any amount upfront as we work on a contingency fee basis. This is an agreement where we take your case and push for a certain amount of money in compensation and then deduct our fees as a percentage of the amount awarded.
File Your Zantac Lawsuit With Cellino Law
It is regrettable for you or a loved one to suffer from cancer after using a regular heartburn medication. If you are a victim, we understand that you are spending a lot of money on treatment in addition to your degraded quality of life as a result of this condition. Contact us today, and we will be happy to get you the compensation amount required to help you recuperate comfortably. Reach out to us at (888) 888-8888 for a free case assessment.