03:51 PM EDT, 05/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The independent lab that raised concerns about GSK's (GSK) Zantac heartburn medication has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the UK drugmaker, alleging the company hid the drug's cancer risks for decades.

The suit, filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, by Valisure alleges GSK concealed data from the US Food and Drug Administration that showed the medicine could react to form a dangerous carcinogen when exposed to heat or humidity.

The lab also alleges GSK defrauded federal and state governments by making false claims about the safety of the product, even though it was "not fit for human consumption," according to the suit.

Zantac, which was approved in 1983 based on GSK's false data, propelled the company from a "small British pharmaceutical laboratory to one of the most powerful drug companies in the world," the lawsuit said.

"Our argument is that every dollar the government -- state or federal -- paid for Zantac, was fraud," Brent Wisner of Wisner Baum in Los Angeles, one of Valisure's attorneys in the case, was quoted as saying in an interview with Bloomberg. "It may rise to the level of posing an existential threat to GSK."

GSK has said there is "no consistent or reliable evidence" that Zantac raises the risks of any kind of cancer, according the media reports.

GSK did not immediately respond to a request for comment from MT Newswires.

Price: 44.62, Change: -0.36, Percent Change: -0.80