A proposed class action lawsuit alleges investors suffered “economic loss” due to GSK’s attempts to conceal the link between its heartburn drug Zantac and cancer.
According to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, from the time Zantac launched in the U.S., Glaxo and GSK were in possession of an internal report, created by Glaxo scientist Richard Tanner, that showed that ranitidine could create the highly carcinogenic compound, N-nitrosodimethylamine. “Glaxo buried Dr. Tanner’s resulting report. Its successor company, GSK, kept that report buried,” alleges the suit.
Plaintiffs further claim that GSK “made materially false and misleading statements and omissions and engaged in a scheme to deceive the market.”
In 2020, the FDA requested that manufacturers withdraw all prescription and over-the-counter ranitidine drugs from the market while the agency investigated the NDMA contaminant. The scientific consensus remains that there is no consistent or reliable evidence that ranitidine increases the risk of any cancer. GSK, without admitting liability, agreed in October 2024 to pay up to $2.2 billion to resolve 93% (approximately 80,000 cases) of U.S. state court Zantac product liability cases.