On November 13, the first trial in the US has been set regarding the allegations that the drug Zantac (for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux, indigestion, ulcers, etc.) is responsible for the appearance of cancer, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said yesterday.

Plaintiffs in the case, which will be heard in California, allege that Zantac can cause nine types of cancer, including colon, breast and bladder.

Another lawsuit was also expected to go to trial this month, but was eventually dropped after British drugmaker GSK Plc settled for an undisclosed sum without admitting liability.

Thousands of Zantac lawsuits have been filed in California against drugmakers GSK, Sanofi SA, Pfizer Inc and Boehringer Ingelheim, which at times sold the drug.

The outcome of the trial is awaited with great interest, since it will be seen whether the claims of the plaintiffs are scientifically substantiated, while possibly being a point of reference for future settlements.

After receiving approval in 1983, within five years Zantac became the most widely used drug worldwide and one of the first to exceed $1 billion in annual sales.

In 2019, some of the manufacturing companies stopped production of Zantac due to concern that the active substance ranitidine may over time produce N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) as a result of decomposition. Although NDMA occurs at low levels in food and water, research has shown that in larger amounts it can cause cancer.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) withdrew the drug Zantac and its generics from the market in 2020.

The drug companies were vindicated in December by a federal judge who dismissed all of the lawsuits (about 50,000) filed in US federal court on the grounds that claims linking Zantac to cancer were not sufficiently scientifically substantiated.

The remaining lawsuits have been filed in state courts, most in Delaware, where more than 70,000 cases are pending.