Zantac Trial Schedule

Updated March 6, 2024

Wisner Baum has settled several Zantac lawsuits before trial in California. Both parties and the court are finalizing the California Zantac trial schedule for the next round of cases. In Delaware, Judge Medinilla will soon decide if experts can testify in open court on any causal connections between Zantac (generic: ranitidine) and cancer. We will update this page with new information. 

The makers of Zantac (ranitidine) are facing lawsuits in several state courts alleging the widely-used heartburn medication causes several types of cancer. Zantac drug manufacturers named in lawsuits include:

• GlaxoSmithKline
• Sanofi
• Pfizer
• Boehringer Ingelheim

Most Zantac lawsuits were consolidated in a federal multidistrict litigation (“MDL”) before U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Florida, the Honorable Robin L. Rosenberg. However, on December 6, 2022, Judge Rosenberg issued an opinion that Zantac lawyers representing some 50,000 plaintiffs failed to provide credible scientific evidence that Zantac causes cancer. Based on that conclusion, Judge Rosenberg granted the drug makers’ request for summary judgment. Plaintiffs’ attorneys have appealed the ruling.

While the Zantac MDL is not currently a viable option for plaintiffs alleging Zantac causes cancer, Zantac lawsuits continue in state courts. Judge Rosenberg’s ruling in the federal MDL will not directly affect the state court cases.  Zantac claims are filed in the following state courts:

• California
• Illinois
• Delaware
• Connecticut
• Nevada
• Pennsylvania

Cases in California state court are part of the “Ranitidine Product Cases” Judicial Council Coordinated Proceedings (“JCCP”) 5150. The Honorable Judge Noël Wise for the Superior Court of Alameda is the judge overseeing the Ranitidine Products Cases JCCP 5150 (also known simply as the California Zantac JCCP, captioned In Re: Ranitidine Product Cases, JCCP No. 5150). 

The Delaware Zantac litigation is also moving forward. Judge Medinilla named attorneys R. Brent Wisner of Wisner Baum, Jennifer Moore of Moore Law Group, Raeann Warner of Jacobs & Crumplar, and Justin Parafinczuk of Parafinczuk Wolf to the plaintiffs’ leadership for over 70,000 Zantac cases pending in Delaware State Court. Wisner and his colleagues in the leadership will be responsible for presenting the plaintiffs’ position in all pretrial matters, initiating and coordinating pretrial discovery, and more.

Zantac Lawsuit California State Court - Latest Updates

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.

Zantac Lawsuit Delaware State Court - Latest Updates