AstraZeneca Settles Kidney Damage Lawsuits for Nexium

AstraZeneca Settles Kidney Damage Lawsuits for Nexium

Introduction

AstraZeneca has agreed to pay $425 million in a settlement related to Nexium and Prilosec, two popular heartburn drugs, to resolve around 11,000 lawsuits alleging kidney injuries resulting from the drugs' side effects.

These medications belong to a class known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which also includes Prevacid, Protonix, Dexilant, and others. While these drugs were once believed to be safe with few serious side effects, thousands of lawsuits, including Nexium and Prilosec lawsuits, have been filed against the manufacturers in recent years. These lawsuits share similar claims that PPI users suffered from acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, end-stage renal failure, and other side effects.

AstraZeneca's announcement of the settlement on October 3 comes after previous settlements totaling $108 million were reached with manufacturers of other PPI drugs, such as GlaxoSmithKline, Procter & Gamble, and Pfizer.

Due to the common questions of fact and law raised in these numerous complaints, the litigation has been centralized under a U.S. District Judge in New Jersey as part of a multi-district litigation (MDL) since late 2019.

AstraZeneca's settlement covers approximately 11,000 lawsuits, leaving only one unresolved case against the manufacturer, scheduled for trial in April 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. It's worth noting that AstraZeneca maintains that its drugs are safe and that the cases lack merit, despite agreeing to resolve them.

The announcement of the settlement coincided with a stay on all requirements and deadlines for plaintiffs claiming to have used an AstraZeneca heartburn drug. The Court has indicated that it will provide guidance on how cases involving other defendants' products, not covered by this or previous settlements, will proceed in a future case management order. Additionally, the judge outlined new requirements for claims that do not settle in a separate docket control order.

This settlement was announced just days before the first bellwether trial, scheduled for October 10, involving a plaintiff who developed chronic kidney disease after taking Nexium.