Lawsuits claiming Zantac and its generic equivalents caused cancer belong in Connecticut state court, two groups of Constitution State cancer patients and their estates say, arguing against several drugmakers’ assertions that they can’t be sued in the state on innovator and warning label liability claims.
Twin supplemental objections to the drugmakers’ motions to dismiss the cases, filed Monday on the Connecticut Superior Court’s complex litigation docket in Waterbury, say GlaxoSmithKline LLC and Pfizer Inc. consented to jurisdiction in Connecticut by filing incorporation papers with the Connecticut Secretary of State. Pointing to a local federal court decision, the motions also argue that a group of drugmakers should face litigation in Connecticut because they decided to sell drugs in Connecticut.
“Innovator liability intrinsically ‘relates to’ defendants’ substantial and purposeful availment of drug sales and marketing in Connecticut,” the patients argued, citing International Shoe Co. v. Washington, the U.S. Supreme Court’s seminal 1945 personal jurisdiction opinion.
