Prilosec Lawsuit
People who filed Prilosec lawsuits claim the drug caused them to develop kidney injuries and chronic kidney disease. As of July 2024, 12,769 Prilosec and Nexium lawsuits claimed AstraZeneca knew the drug could cause kidney problems but failed to warn the public. AstraZeneca agreed to settle the cases in 2023.
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- Last Modified: July 16, 2024
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- Defendant
- AstraZeneca
- Injuries in Lawsuits
- Kidney disease, kidney injury, kidney failure, acute interstitial nephritis
- Status
- Open; AstraZeneca offered $425 million to settle in 2023
- Number of Cases
- 12,769 total pending proton pump inhibitor cases in multidistrict litigation
Prilosec Lawsuit Status
AstraZeneca agreed to pay $425 million in October 2023 to settle pending Prilosec and Nexium lawsuits in New Jersey federal multidistrict litigation (MDL). This MDL contains mostly Prilosec and Nexium lawsuits, along with a smaller number of claims about other PPIs, including Prevacid.
After this settlement, our legal partners and many other lawyers stopped taking Prilosec cases and other proton pump inhibtor lawsuits. However, we will continue to provide any relevant updates we garner from our partners or our research below.
Prilosec Lawsuit Timeline
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June 2024
There were 12,769 Nexium, Prilosec and Prevacid lawsuits pending in the MDL out of 18,668 originally filed. The MDL is open, but all deadlines remain stayed. In our experience, this could mean that more settlements may be in development. AstraZeneca, the main defendant in this MDL, offered a Prilosec and Nexium settlement last year. The stay in the MDL also stays deadlines and progress for the next bellwether, Conaway v. Takeda Pharma. Co. Ltd., et al.
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April 2024
Our research revealed an order by Judge Claire Cecchi in the MDL that stayed all pending deadlines until further order of the Court. This includes all proceedings for the trial of Conaway v. Takeda Pharma. Co. Ltd., et al., which was supposed to go to trial in October 2024. Though not related to Prilosec, this case is in the same MDL that covers all proton pump inhibitor lawsuits. Takeda manufactures Prevacid and Protonix, which are also at issue in this MDL.
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October 2023
AstraZeneca offered $425 million to settle Prilosec lawsuits in the MDL. Under the terms of the settlement, about 11,000 lawsuits for Prilosec and Nexium are included.
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February 2023
Judge Claire C. Cecchi moved the Rieder bellwether trial yet again. According to the court documents we reviewed, it was moved from March 2023 to June 5, 2023. The judge added it may also be moved to “30 days after the Court decides summary judgment and Daubert motions, whichever is later.”
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January 2023
Lawyers speculated a global settlement could take place in 2023, according to what we’ve seen online and in discussions with our legal partners.
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June 2022
The PPI MDL had grown to about 13,000 cases. The first bellwether trial in the PPI MDL, the case of James Rieder, was expected in September 2022. In our experience, bellwethers are an important step in litigation because both sides get to test their legal arguments before a jury. They are also significant for placing values on cases for potential settlements. Trials two and three were forecasted to follow.
After the 2023 Prilosec and Nexium settlement, many attorneys have stopped accepting these claims. The MDL remains active, however, and according to our research, other defendants haven’t yet finalized a settlement for the other PPI drugs.
Why Did People File Prilosec Lawsuits?
People who filed Prilosec lawsuits that we reviewed in research alleged the drug caused chronic kidney disease and end-stage kidney failure. Our legal partners have confirmed these injuries with us. In addition, lawsuits claimed drugmakers knew or should have known that Prilosec and other PPIs such as Nexium could harm people’s kidneys.
Some evidence existed as early as the 1990s, according to these lawsuits. Despite knowing the dangers, the defendants marketed Prilosec as safe and effective and did not warn the public.
“Defendants took no action to inform [the] Plaintiff or Plaintiff’s physicians of this known risk. Rather, Defendants continued to represent that Nexium and Prilosec did not pose any risk of kidney injuries.”
We analyzed one Prilosec lawsuit filed by Ginger K. Brady-Bunch. Brady-Bunch used Prilosec and Nexium.
According to this case, “Despite being on notice as to the excessive risks of kidney injuries related to the use of Nexium and Prilosec, Defendants took no action to inform [the] Plaintiff or Plaintiff’s physicians of this known risk. Rather, Defendants continued to represent that Nexium and Prilosec did not pose any risk of kidney injuries.”
AstraZeneca also faces similar allegations in Nexium lawsuits. These proton pump inhibitor cases are consolidated in the same New Jersey multidistrict litigation as Prilosec cases.
Injuries Named in Prilosec Lawsuits
Studies show long-term use of Nexium, Prilosec and other proton pump inhibitors can cause kidney problems. Our legal partners tell us that injuries in these lawsuits centered around kidney injuries. They previously provided us with injury criteria from when they used to take these cases.
Prilosec lawsuits said the drug and other proton pump inhibitors showed an association with a “20% to 50% higher risk of incident chronic kidney disease” with long-term use.
- Acute kidney injury
- Chronic kidney disease
- End-stage renal failure
- Interstitial nephritis
People filing Prilosec lawsuits, Nexium lawsuits and other proton pump inhibitor lawsuits are suing to get compensation for their kidney injuries. The plaintiffs wanted compensation for damages, including the cost of financial damage from lost wages, medical bills and pain and suffering.
- No Warnings
- Defendants had numerous reports of injuries but took no action to warn the public
- Defendants represented that Prilosec didn’t pose a risk of kidney injuries
- PPIs have been associated with kidney injuries since at least 1992
- Prilosec Kidney Damage
- A higher risk of kidney damage was seen with PPIs vs H2 blockers
- Metabolites from Prilosec and other PPIs deposit in the kidneys, causing problems
- PPI Studies
- Between 1992 and 2004 over 23 cases of biopsy-proven kidney injury related to Prilosec were reported
- Patients recovered kidney function after stopping PPIs, but evidence of chronic kidney disease continued
Prilosec Lawsuit Settlements
Prilosec kidney injury lawsuits settled in October 2023. Before this, we reported that some Prilosec lawyers estimated a Prilosec settlement may be worth anywhere from $20,000 to $150,000 per plaintiff, depending on the severity of the injuries.
Keep in mind that these are just estimates based on what lawyers think could happen. From our experience, there is no guarantee of any settlement amount and case value is determined through various complex factors.
Even before AstraZeneca agreed to pay millions to settle Prilosec and Nexium injury lawsuits, the company already agreed to other settlements. The company 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.”
Prilosec Recalls & Warnings
The FDA released several safety warnings about Prilosec and other proton pump inhibitors, but neither it nor drugmakers recalled Prilosec.
Though there was a large recall of a similar acid-reducing drug, Zantac, in 2019, Prilosec and other PPIs were not a part of this recall. A year later, the FDA ordered all products containing ranitidine off the U.S. market.
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.
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