Prilosec Lawsuit

AstraZeneca agreed in October agreed to settle about 11,000 Prilosec and Nexium lawsuits for $425 million dollars. The lawsuits, along with similar kidney injury Prevacid lawsuits, were combined into a multidistrict litigation in New Jersey federal court. Drugwatch’s legal partners are currently not accepting Prilosec lawsuits.

• May 2024: There were 12,806 Nexium, Prilosec and Prevacid lawsuits pending in the MDL out of 18,668 originally filed.
• October 2023: AstraZeneca agrees to a $425 million settlement of all Prilosec and Nexium lawsuits in the New Jersey MDL.
• May 2023: Judge Cecchi held a status conference, but the transcript of that conference was not made available to the public.
• March 2023: As of March 2023, a total of 13,195 federal lawsuits were pending in the proton pump inhibitor MDL in New Jersey.
• February 2023: Judge Claire C. Cecchi rescheduled the Rieder bellwether test trial from March 2023 to June 5, 2023 “or 30 days after the Court decides summary judgment and Daubert motions, whichever is later.” Bellwether two was scheduled to start July 17, 2023, and bellwether three was scheduled to start Sept.18, 2023.
• January 2023: Judge Cecchi set a deadline for Plaintiffs to add Pfizer as a defendant in their complaints.
• January 2023: There was settlement speculation. But the litigation continued to move forward for the over 13,000 PPI cases in the MDL class action lawsuit and many others in state court.
• June 2022: Cases in the Nexium and Prilosec MDL were up to 13,000. Lawyers expected the first PPI bellwether trial of James Rieder in September 2022 with trials two and three to follow through March 2023.

Some Prilosec lawyers estimate a Prilosec settlement may be worth anywhere from $20,000 to $150,000 per plaintiff, depending on the severity of the injuries.

However, AstraZeneca has had to pay millions of dollars to settle kickback scheme allegations related to Prilosec and Nexium. On Feb. 11, 2015, the Department of Justice announced that AstraZeneca agreed to pay $7.9 million to settle allegations of kickback scheme violations.

The DOJ alleged that AstraZeneca gave price cuts to Medco Health Solutions on popular drugs, including Prilosec, in exchange for “Medco maintaining Nexium’s ‘sole and exclusive’ status on certain Medco formularies and through other marketing activities related to those Medco formularies.” The whistleblowers were former AstraZeneca employees, Paul DiMattia and F. Folger Tuggle, who received $1,422,000 of the settlement proceeds.

Plaintiffs are filing Prilosec lawsuits against drugmakers AstraZeneca and Procter & Gamble because consumers claim the drug caused them to develop serious kidney injuries. Plaintiffs who took prescription or over-the-counter Prilosec say the manufacturers knew of the risk of kidney injuries but failed to warn the public.

These and other PPI lawsuits say the medications are defective and unreasonably dangerous. Other claims include negligence, breach of warranty and misleading consumers. In their legal claims, people say drugmakers knew as early as 2004 that Prilosec, Nexium and other proton pump inhibitors could cause kidney injuries.

People filing Prilosec lawsuits, Nexium lawsuits and other proton pump inhibitor lawsuits are suing to get compensation for their kidney injuries. A Prilosec settlement or jury verdict in favor of the claimants could cover the cost of financial damage from lost wages, medical bills and pain and suffering.

Does Prilosec Cause Cancer?

Recent medical studies suggest that long-term use of proton pump inhibitors, including Prilosec, may increase the risk of gastric cancer and other cancers. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not issued an official warning of possible risks or made a definitive decision about evidence.

A 2022 study published in BMJ’s Gut journal found that Prilosec and other PPIs were associated with a 45% increased risk of gastric cancer compared to using histamine-2 receptor antagonists like Pepcid. But another 2022 study in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics found no increased risk of gastric cancer. And another 2022 study in American Journal of Clinical Oncology found PPI use increased the risk of gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer and liver cancer.

The FDA released several safety warnings about Prilosec and other proton pump inhibitors, but neither it nor drugmakers recalled Prilosec.

Manufacturers in 2019 issued a recall of popular heartburn medication Zantac. A year later, the FDA ordered all products containing ranitidine off the U.S. market. Prilosec and other PPIs were not a part of this recall.

In addition to these official warnings, the FDA is investigating reports of erectile dysfunction, acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis, rhabdomyolysis and other potential health conditions associated with Prilosec and other PPIs.

The agency hasn’t decided whether it will take regulatory action or add any warnings to the drugs’ labels.