Zantac and human cancer risks

The cohort study was conducted using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, including all the medical services, procedures, and prescription medication data from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2018 . The final matched cohort comprised 55,110 patients exposed to ranitidine and another group of the same number of patients not exposed to ranitidine.

The analysis comparing the two groups revealed that the ranitidine cohort showed a significantly higher prevalence of liver, gastric, renal, and lung cancer and a higher overall cancer rate when compared with the non-users of ranitidine. Ranitidine increased the risk of liver, lung, gastric, and pancreatic cancers. 

The ranitidine users were divided into groups, according to their exposure levels: 90–180 DDDs, 181–270 DDDs, 271–360 DDDs, >360 DDDs, and an unexposed group. Relatively limited exposures to ranitidine (<360 DDDs) did not significantly affect the risk of developing liver cancer when compared with non-users of ranitidine. Nevertheless, increased exposure to ranitidine was associated with liver cancer risk.

LEGAL UPDATES

MDL NO. 2924 – PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

The Zantac lawsuit MDL is scheduled to begin litigating claims for California residents on February 13, 2023. These are among the first of the bellwether trials, which will set the precedent for similar mass tort claims. The Zantac claims for Florida residents will begin in July 2023, with over 2,000 cases filed by Zantac lawyers as of October 2022.

● During the last week of October, Judge Robin L. Rosenberg issued an Order directing the parties to submit supplemental expert reports introducing a new study.²

● October 14, 2022: The Defendants were ordered to submit to the Plaintiffs and file with the Court up to two supplemental rebuttal reports._²
● October 11, 2022: The Plaintiffs were required to file their supplemental expert reports. ²
● October 6, 2022: The Court heard the parties on the matter the next day at the Daubert hearing on the Defendants’ general causation expert reports.²
● October 4, 2022: The Expedited Motion (Supplemental Expert Reports and Incorporated Memorandum of Law) was filed after the Court held its Daubert hearing on the Plaintiffs’ general causation experts. ²

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Sources: Chun-Hsiang Wang et al., Pharmacoepidemiological Research on N- Nitrosodimethylamine-Contaminated Ranitidine Use and Long-Term Cancer Risk: A Population-Based Longitudinal Cohort Study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9566239/