Judges noted that the nine Zantac lawsuits involving more than 850 plaintiffs were structured in a way to avoid the need for the cases to be handled at the federal level, where all similar claims have been dismissed.
Verdict comes in a Zantac lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim, weeks after Sanofi and Pfizer announced agreements to settle thousands of Zantac cancer claims.
Jury is hearing evidence after several prior Zantac cancer lawsuits were settled weeks before trial was set to begin in other courts.
Sanofi will pay $100 million to resolve about 4,000 claims over toxic chemicals in the recalled heartburn drug, but tens of thousands of additional Zantac cancer lawsuits remain unsettled, with most pending in Delaware state court.
Deal comes as a Delaware judge is currently weighing whether to accept or reject plaintiffs' expert witness testimony in more than 70,000 other Zantac lawsuits still pending in that state.
Second time in the last month GlaxoSmithKline has reached a Zantac settlement agreement just before a case was set to go before a jury, privately resolving claims that the recalled heartburn drug caused cancer
Although GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to several Zantac settlements payouts in recent months, the drug maker indicates that it plans to continue defending against cancer lawsuits being pursued by former users of Zantac.
GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer and other drug makers face more than 70,000 Zantac cancer lawsuits in Delaware state court, after a U.S. District Judge dimissed all claims filed in the federal court system in 2022.
Settlement resolves four Zantac cancer lawsuits selected for bellwether trials in California, the first of which was expected to go before a jury begin in November.
Trial will be the first of tens of thousands of Zantac lawsuits filed in state courts nationwide to go before a jury, involving claims the recalled heartburn drug caused cancer.
