Updated December 3, 2024
Wisner Baum has helped negotiate several Zantac lawsuit settlements:
The makers of Zantac (ranitidine) are facing lawsuits in several state courts alleging the widely used heartburn medication causes several types of cancer. Approximately 80,000 Zantac lawsuits are pending in the following state courts:
November 21, 2024: Russell v. Boehringer Ingelheim ended with a hung jury. The jury agreed that Zantac was dangerous and that Boehringer Ingelheim failed to warn consumers about the drug's risks. However, the jury was split 6-6 on whether Zantac directly caused Mr. Russell's cancer, which means they could not reach a verdict. Russell's attorneys, R. Brent Wisner and Jennifer Moore, told the media they, “stand ready to retry this case immediately,” adding that, “Boehringer dodged a bullet today - that won't happen again.”
November 6, 2024: The jury is now deliberating in Russell v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. We will update this page once a verdict has been reached.
October 28, 2024: Wisner Baum and co-counsel rested our case in Russell v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The trial will likely continue until mid to late November.
October 3, 2024: The jury in Russell v. Boehringer Ingelheim was finalized yesterday. Today, we begin opening statements.
September 30, 2024: Jury selection begins today in the case of Russell v. Boehringer Ingelheim.
September 27, 2024: Judge Noël Wise denied Boehringer’s motion to dismiss plaintiff John Wayne Russell’s claim for punitive damages. Mr. Russell’s case is the first Zantac trial against Boehringer where punitive damages will be at stake.
Jury selection begins Monday, September 30, in Alameda County Superior Court.
September 23, 2024: Trial is set to begin in California for plaintiff John Wayne Russell. Mr. Russell alleges Zantac causes bladder cancer. Our law firm and co-counsel negotiated a settlement with GSK on Mr. Russell’s behalf. However, we are still preparing for trial against defendant Boehringer Ingelheim.
June 10, 2024: A tentative trial date for the first case in the California Zantac JCCP has been set for September 30, 2024. The case will be tried by R. Brent Wisner, managing partner of Wisner Baum, and Jennifer Moore of the Moore Law Group. The two Zantac lawyers have successfully settled several claims ahead of trial this year. The trial will take place in Alameda, California.
March 6, 2024: Both parties and the court are finalizing the trial dates for the next round of Zantac trials in California. We will update this page when new information is available. Our firm and the Moore Law Group have secured several Zantac settlements over the last few months for plaintiffs before trials were scheduled to begin.
December 1, 2023: The first Zantac trial is tentatively scheduled for February 2024. It will be a bladder cancer case for a plaintiff who alleges Zantac caused their bladder cancer. Jennifer Moore of the Moore Law Group will co-try the case with R. Brent Wisner of Wisner Baum. More details on this case will be forthcoming.
October 11, 2023: Zantac lawyers from Wisner Baum and The Moore Law Group reached settlement agreements in four breast cancer cases in California state court. The settlements resolve bellwether cases consolidated in the California Zantac JCCP. One of the cases was set for trial in November.
September 1, 2023: The first Zantac trial, a breast cancer case, is scheduled for November 13, 2023, in Alameda County, California. While the result of the upcoming Zantac trial will not have a binding impact on other cases pending in California or other courts, this trial will be closely watched to see how the jury responds to the plaintiff’s evidence and experts.
June 23, 2023: Jennifer A. Moore, of the Moore Law Group and R. Brent Wisner of Wisner Baum announced a Zantac settlement in the case of James Goetz v. GlaxoSmithKline (Case No. RG20061705). Mr. Goetz’s case was to be the first Zantac case set to go to trial in the California Ranitidine Products Cases JCCP 5150. Zantac attorneys Jennifer Moore and R. Brent Wisner made the following statement after the settlement was announced:
“On behalf of our client, Mr. James Goetz, who took Zantac and developed bladder cancer, we are pleased that Defendant, GlaxoSmithKline, agreed to settle and finally bring closure to Mr. Goetz.”
March 23, 2023 – Judge Evelio M. Grillo issued a 63-page order in James Goetz v. GlaxoSmithKline (Case No. RG20061705) that allows nearly all of Mr. Goetz’s expert witnesses to testify at trial, a decision that signals significant litigation on the horizon for GSK. Mr. Goetz’s case is one of thousands, and with the order, his case will be the first Zantac bellwether trial in the country. A bellwether trial is essentially a test case in a mass tort litigation that sets a precedent for the hundreds or thousands of cases making the same or similar allegations. The first bellwether trial will be a good indicator for out-of-court settlement resolutions. If the plaintiffs win a jury verdict, it generally increases the likelihood that cases will end in Zantac settlement agreements.
March 2, 2023 – The continuation of the Sargon hearing will take place on March 2. This will be the third day of this expert hearing.
February 23, 2023 – The Court continued the hearing on Sargon today. At the conclusion, it was announced that jury selection in the first Zantac trial in California State Court will begin on July 24, 2023. Judge Evelio Grillo is currently considering what expert testimony will be allowed during trial in the case of James Goetz v. GlaxoSmithKline, LLC. Mr. Goetz alleges in his Zantac lawsuit that he developed bladder cancer after taking the drug. His case is the first “bellwether” case, an early test of how Zantac cancer lawsuits will fare in state courts.
February 16, 2023 – The Court held a hearing on Sargon, which allows the legal teams for the plaintiffs and the defendants to present their expert witnesses and educate the court on the science that underpins their arguments.
After carefully considering the expert opinions, Judge Grillo will decide whether the experts used sound logic and valid methodologies to arrive at their scientific opinions. If Judge Grillo determines that the experts used valid methodologies, then Zantac cases in the JCCP can proceed to trial, and the experts will be allowed to provide evidence and testimony on whether Zantac causes cancer, and whether that propensity for inducing cancer caused a particular Zantac user to develop cancer.
If plaintiffs’ experts pass muster in Sargon, the first bellwether trial will begin.
August 23, 2024: A Connecticut state court judge has denied motions to dismiss filed by pharmaceutical companies in consolidated Zantac lawsuits, allowing the litigation to proceed. The defendants, including Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, and Sanofi, had challenged the court's jurisdiction over claims alleging that Zantac causes cancer. But the court asserted jurisdiction based on the companies' substantial business activities in Connecticut and their consent to jurisdiction by registering to do business in the state. The judge also rejected drug manufacturer defendant arguments against "innovator liability" and claims based on specific dates of use and manufacturing.
June 1, 2024: Judge Vivian Medinilla's ruling today allows over 70,000 Zantac cancer lawsuits to proceed. The judge ruled that expert witnesses can testify in court regarding the potential cancer risks associated with Zantac (ranitidine), which brings cases filed in Delaware one step closer to getting the science alleged in lawsuits before a jury.
You can read Judge Medinilla’s order here.
March 4, 2024: As of today, there are over 72,000 filed Zantac cases in Delaware State Court, which accounts for the vast majority of Zantac lawsuits that have been filed across the country.
The court recently heard arguments in Daubert. This is the test for admissibility of expert witness testimony. The Judge will decide if experts are qualified to opine on issues related to these cases, including any causal connections between Zantac/ranitidine and the various cancers. This is a crucial test that will largely determine if the court will proceed with claims related to some or all of the various cancers.
The process for selecting the first cases for trial is also underway. This is known as the bellwether selection process. We expect more developments after the Judge rules on Daubert.
January 25, 2024: The hearings on Daubert before the Hon. Judge Vivian L. Medinilla concluded today. What is a Daubert hearing? It is when legal teams for both sides present their experts to educate the court on the science underpinning their arguments.
The plaintiffs must demonstrate that they have scientific evidence to support their allegations, and that they used recognized, reliable methodology for arriving at their scientific opinions. If the judge determines those methodologies are valid, expert witnesses will be allowed to testify and the Zantac cancer cases in Delaware can proceed to trial.
September 18, 2024: Another mistrial was declared in an Illinois lawsuit against Boehringer Ingelheim, alleging the company’s heartburn medication Zantac caused plaintiff Ronald Kimbrow’s prostate cancer. The latest mistrial in Illinois follows a similar deadlock in August involving plaintiff Martin Gross, who also sued Boehringer Ingelheim over Zantac.
August 7, 2024: An Illinois judge declared a mistrial in a lawsuit claiming that Boehringer Ingelheim’s over-the-counter Zantac caused a man to develop prostate cancer. The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. The parties will return to Cook County's chief judge next week to set a new trial date, and possibly assign a new judge.
August 5, 2024: GSK announced today that a Zantac trial in Illinois has ended with a jury finding that ranitidine did not cause a plaintiff’s colorectal cancer.
July 29, 2024: The case of Kimbrow v. GlaxoSmithKline has culminated in a confidential settlement. The plaintiff alleged Zantac caused prostate cancer.
June 10, 2024: GSK stated the Illinois Zantac trial that was supposed to start today was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff.
June 2, 2024: Several Zantac trials are scheduled for Illinois in June, July, September, and November of 2024.
June 3, 2024: A Zantac trial in Philadelphia has been scheduled for February 2025.
If you were diagnosed with cancer after taking Zantac, you may be eligible to pursue compensation in a Zantac lawsuit. To learn more about your legal rights, please call (310) 207-3233 or fill out our contact form to start the free case evaluation process.
"Wisner Baum gave exceptional attention to all aspects of the case, detailed inquiry, and tenacious overview of all the information submitted. The paralegals are efficient and diligent. I was completely surprised to find an empathic personal message to take care of my own health during the challenging time of being a full-time caretaker.*"
In May of 2019, the jury in the case of Pilliod et al. v, Monsanto Company ordered the agrochemical giant to pay $2.055 billion in damages to the plaintiffs, Alva and Alberta Pilliod, a Bay Area couple in their 70s. R. Brent Wisner served as co-lead trial attorney for the Pilliods, delivering the opening and closing statements and cross-examining several of Monsanto’s experts. Wisner Baum managing shareholder, Michael Baum and attorney Pedram Esfandiary also served on the trial team in the Pilliod case.
The judge later reduced their award to $87M. Monsanto appealed the Pilliod’s verdict which the California Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District denied on August 9, 2021. Monsanto then requested the California Supreme Court review the appeal’s court decision, which the court denied on Nov. 17, 2021. Monsanto (Bayer) then submitted a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court which SCOTUS denied on June 27, 2022, allowing the final judgment of $87M to remain intact.
$289.2 million jury verdict in Monsanto Roundup trial
Wisner Baum co-represented Dewayne “Lee” Johnson in the first Roundup cancer lawsuit to proceed to trial. On Aug. 10, 2018, a San Francisco jury ordered Monsanto to pay $39.25 million in compensatory damages and $250 million in punitive damages to Mr. Johnson, a former groundskeeper who alleged exposure to Monsanto’s herbicides caused him to develop terminal non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Months after the jury verdict, the judge overseeing the trial reduced the punitive damages to $39.25 million. Mr. Johnson decided to accept the remittitur, bringing the adjusted amount awarded to Mr. Johnson $78.5 million.
Monsanto (Bayer) appealed the verdict and Johnson cross appealed. On July 20, 2020, the First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the verdict against Monsanto but reduced Mr. Johnson’s award to $20.5 million. The company chose not to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, ending the litigation.
In 2016, Wisner Baum attorney Timothy A. Loranger and six other attorneys in the Plaintiffs’ Management Committee were able to secure a $265 million settlement for victims of the 2015 Amtrak 188 derailment in Philadelphia, one of the largest in the U.S. for 2016.
