Zantac and Cancer, with Brent Wisner

One of the nation’s leading trial attorneys Brent Wisner talks about his role in current litigation against several big pharma companies who’ve all been manufacturers of the popular heartburn drug called Zantac, which has been taken off the market amidst concerns over possible cancer diagnoses. Brent is the managing partner and lead trial attorney at the law firm of Wisner Baum. He’s been recognized as one of America’s 50 Most Influential Trial Lawyers by Trial Lawyer Magazine. And he serves as co-lead trial counsel in the Zantac Products Liability Litigation in Delaware.

Chances are if you ever had a serious problem with heartburn, you might have taken a popular drug called Zantac. The generic form of the drug is called ranitidine

In 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requested that manufacturers of the drug withdraw all prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) ranitidine drugs from the market immediately. This was part of an ongoing investigation of a contaminant in ranitidine medications.

Fast forward to May of this year. That was when Pfizer, one of the manufacturers of Zantac, agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug. Still, this company and these lawsuits do not represent the entirety of the problem and the legal woes for manufacturers. That’s what we will be talking about today.