Weekly Mass Torts Bulletin 2023-July-3

The healthcare division of Boehringer Ingelheim, which contained the heartburn drug Zantac, was bought by Sanofi when the two companies exchanged assets in 2016.

Years later, with Boehringer facing lawsuits from heartburn patients in the US, the business has attempted to obtain indemnity from the French pharmaceutical company for any liabilities relating to those cancer allegations.

Boehringer's attempt was unsuccessful, according to an arbitration panel of the International Chamber of Commerce, Sanofi stated in a news statement, adding that the ruling is definitive and cannot be challenged.

In a statement, BI stated that it had "taken note" of the ruling and that because the arbitration is "subject to confidentiality provisions, we cannot comment further."

The choice was made since Zantac manufacturers, such as GSK, Pfizer, and other generic drug producers, have bolstered their legal defenses. A federal court in Florida determined that the charges made against the corporations were unfounded in December of last year. This ruling invalidated almost 50,000 federal multidistrict claims.

There are hundreds of cases still pending in state courts that need to be decided. When online pharmacy Valisure found significant amounts of N-nitrosodimethylamine in Zantac in 2019, it raised concerns and led to a recall. The FDA requested that all medication manufacturers voluntarily recall their goods in 2020.

According to the business, Sanofi "remains confident that the defense of the underlying U.S. Zantac litigation is very strong," citing conclusions from the FDA and European Medicines Agency that found no proof that Zantac's active component ranitidine caused cancer.

According to Sanofi, the chances of the plaintiffs' MDL decision appeal being successful are slim. Tens of thousands of claimants who were once involved in this MDL case made the decision to drop their lawsuits or to withdraw from the MDL early, either by filing in state court or by not filing at all.