PPI Heartburn Drugs Allegedly Increase Users’ Risk of Developing Stomach Cancer

Manufacturers of popular heartburn drugs like Nexium and Prilosec face another wrongful death lawsuit in the federal courts, as a Las Vegas man alleges claims the dangerous side effects of these medications caused his wife’s stomach cancer diagnosis and death. This lawsuit joins thousands of others from across the U.S. claiming Nexium and similar heartburn drug manufacturers knowingly sold unreasonably dangerous medications to consumers and never warned about the health risks associated with taking these medications.

Mario DeSouza, the husband of the deceased Lisa Marie DeSouza, filed the wrongful death lawsuit on February 1 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. According to the lawsuit, Lisa DeSouza took Nexium from 2009 to 2019 and later developed gastric cancer. Her cancer diagnosis later led to organ failure and her death.

Mr. DeSouza indicates drug makers AstraZeneca and Merck sold defective and unreasonably dangerous heartburn drugs without adequately warning about the cancer risks. DeSouza also says these companies knew for years about the adverse health risks and knowingly withheld this information from the public.

Nexium, Prilosec, Protonix, and similar drugs belong to a class of heartburn medications known as proton pump inhibitors (PPI). Doctors prescribe these drugs to treat a variety of gastrointestinal conditions, such as stomach infections, heartburn, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

However, researchers have discovered PPI users have an increased risk of developing severe side effects. Reports indicate users of Nexium, Prilosec, and similar PPIs have suffered from heart attacks, kidney problems, bone fractures, and, in some cases, stomach cancer.

So far, over 13,000 product liability lawsuits have been filed against PPI manufacturers like AstraZeneca and Merck. Given the increasing complaints raising similar questions of fact and law, these cases were centralized in the District of New Jersey as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL).

U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi presides over the MDL and the coordination of all discovery and federal pretrial proceedings. Recently, Judge Cecchi announced the first in a series of PPI bellwether trials will begin November 15, 2021, with additional trials to likely start in early 2022.

PPI Heartburn Drug Lawsuits

Over the years, increasing lawsuits have been filed against the makers of Prilosec, Nexium, and similar PPI heartburn drugs. Many of these claims allege drug makers failed to warn doctors and patients about the risks of kidney damage, failure, and stomach cancer from taking PPIs. Some of these lawsuits even indicate manufacturers failed to provide proper clinical evidence and unethically marketed these heartburn medications.

Plaintiffs in these lawsuits say proper warning about PPIs’ dangers would have given patients the option to seek alternate treatments for their heartburn or monitor their health more carefully for signs of adverse side effects while taking the medication. If you took PPI heartburn drugs like Nexium and Prilosec and later developed injuries like kidney failure or stomach cancer, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries.

To see if you may be eligible to file a claim for your injuries, reach out to our attorneys at the McGartland Law Firm today. Our lawyers work tirelessly to help victims of dangerous drugs hold companies responsible for their illegal activities. We have won multi-millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for our clients, and we only accept the best results. Also, we work on a contingency fee basis, which allows us to provide quality legal representation without undue financial risk. Call 1-866-832-9300 today to speak with one of our representatives about your case.