Pfizer has agreed to settle over 10,000 lawsuits that have been filed against it over allegedly failing to report Zantac’s possible link to cancer.
However, this may just be the tip of the iceberg. As it stands, 70,000 more cases over the drug are awaiting a judge’s decision in the State of Delaware alone, with many of those filing lawsuits reporting that they developed cancer after taking the product meant to quell heartburn.
Additionally, Sanofi, which works with and has financed Pfizer, is now expected to pay out over $100 million to roughly 4,000 people ($25,000 per person) who claim that the company failed to alert them to the cancer-causing substance, NDMA, found by the FDA in generic forms of the drug in 2020, possibly setting a precedent and legitimizing future cases.
According to a spokesperson, “Sanofi is settling these cases not because we believe the claims have any merit but rather to avoid the expense and ongoing distraction of the litigation.”
Besides Pfizer and Sanofi, other Big Pharma companies coming under fire in the lawsuits include Boehringer Ingelheim and GSK, with the latter company having lost $45 billion in their market capitalization since 2022 after information on Zantac’s possible cancer-causing properties came to light.
Should the current lawsuits lead to something similar happening to Pfizer, this would represent a nearly 1/3 loss in the company’s net worth, which currently sits at $157 billion.
Moreover, given the recent admission of AstraZeneca that their COVID vaccine causes blood clotting—which the mainstream media brushed off as a conspiracy theory—all eyes are on Pfizer and its mRNA vaccine, which has been linked to a whole host of life-threatening side effects, including myocarditis.
Thus, while today’s lawsuits may only be a slap on the wrist financially, there is at least a chance that they could lead to significantly greater repercussions for the vaccine manufacturer down the line.
