Last September 2019, the news of the carcinogen found in Zantac shocked the public. The reaction was even more severe than the news itself.
Last April 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially withdrew all Zantac from any pharmaceutical stores. FDA found that Zantac contains a chemical that was found to be a carcinogen and it was also found that the said chemical accumulates over time.
As a result, companies around the world started pulling out Zantac from their shelves, and those who took Zantac are filing for lawsuits.
If you took Zantac and want to make sure if you could file a Zantac lawsuit, these steps will guide you.
Carcinogenicity of Zantac
Ranitidine, or known as Zantac, is a drug that is commonly used for treating heartburn and decreasing the levels of stomach acids. It could also be used in treating peptic ulcer disease, reflux syndrome, and Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. Despite the advantages, this drug was pulled out from the market.
The news of cancer from Zantac came from the fact that Zantac contains the carcinogen N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). Even at low levels, NDMA is considered to be a possible carcinogen by the FDA.
The compound N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) has been known to be hepatotoxic and carcinogenic. In 1978, a teacher from Germany was imprisoned for life for trying to poison his wife using a sandwich with NDMA. During the same year, Steven Roy Harper put NDMA in lemonade juice and resulted in the death of a 30-year-old man, Duane Johnson, and 11-month-old, Chad Shelton. In 2018, a poisoning at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada was also reported. Thus, once consumed, NDMA could cause a host of serious issues in the body.
This is the reason why Zantac lawyers are urging people to file a lawsuit after the contamination of Zantac with NDMA. The litigation of Zantac started in April 2020, but the settlements will take some years before it will take effect. Zantac lawyers also highlighted that settlements could be negotiated either through global or inventory statements.
How To Determine If You Can Have A Settlement
#1. Global Settlements
When the statement is said to be global, the settlement covers all the outstanding claims against Zantac. In this case, the claims may even reach a thousand. Global settlements could also use a matrix of criteria in order to determine how much a plaintiff could get after filing a lawsuit. Ultimately, it is up to the plaintiff or the complainant if they will agree to the settlement.
#2. Inventory Settlements
In contrast, inventory settlements assess the cases individually. For instance, the lawyer or the law firm could provide the complainant with an agreeable amount. When the plaintiff or the complainant agrees, the law firm then adds the client’s acceptable minimum.
#3. Mult-District Litigation
Whether global or inventory, these settlements will be done individually. That means that each complaint will be different. But, sometimes, when the lawsuits are combined to form multi-district litigation (MDL), streamline litigation could also happen.
In MDL, one judge will preside over every trial during the pre-lawsuit stages. The results of these trials will be critical as it will determine if there will be any settlements and how much each plaintiff gets.
Zantac lawyers provide a brief outline of the conditions that could file a lawsuit against Zantac:
- Using the drug or any of its generic equivalent
- Receiving any cancer treatment after using the said medicine
- If you establish a link between the usage of Zantac and diagnosis of cancer.
If you meet all three of those requirements, then you can file a lawsuit.
How Lawyers Can Help You
#1. Ask If You’ve Taken Zantac
Before the trial begins, the lawyer will confirm if indeed you took Zantac. This could be evidenced by the receipt from any pharmaceutical store issued to the plaintiff or any medical report that will prove Ranitidine is present in the blood.
This could be a difficult process but it could be proven through the notes, receipts, medical records, or even sworn statements from people who took care of you or your immediate family.
#2. The Duration Of Taking Zantac
After determining and confirming that you have been using Zantac, the lawyers will ask you if you regularly used it for a long period of time or just a one-time medication only. The lawyer would also consider how much of it you took and for how long.
Right now, one can only go by what science and the law are stating. Both of these would also determine if you are indeed taking Zantac regularly (at least once a day or so), for a minimum of three months, allowing you to have a viable claim.
#3. Confirm A Related Diagnosis
The third step is to confirm that there is a related diagnosis. The plaintiff has to provide evidence that harm was caused by consuming Zantac. It could be a medico-legal report or any claim from the doctor that the disease the person is suffering is from Zantac.
Again, the science and the claims are still under investigation and it is not yet clear whether what types of cancer or diseases could be caused by taking in Zantac.
#4. Confirm The Latency Period
The fourth step of the lawyer is to confirm that there is a latency period. As one could clearly notice, there must be some time in between taking Zantac and developing the disease, like cancer. There must be a period of time during the time you first took Zantac and developed a disease. Also, the order must be followed.
If the plaintiff developed a disease prior to taking in Zantac, it will not be entertained by the lawsuit. Once again, the lawsuit may take some time because latency periods are still varying according to the scientists, but lawyers are already getting some updates.
#5. File A Lawsuit
The last step is to contact an attorney and get a lawsuit filed.
The lawyer could file the complaint and gather the necessary evidence to support the claim. The lawyer could also file a personal injury lawsuit to Zantac, which could also lead to settlement on the part of the plaintiff.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Zantac broke the world when it was announced that it contains a carcinogen. Filing a lawsuit requires the presence of the lawyer and they will be able to help you in filing a lawsuit.
