Zantac Cancer Controversy Reignites, Jury Fails to Reach Verdict Again, 70,000 Lawsuits Pending!

A man in Illinois claimed through his legal counsel that he had developed prostate cancer after taking a certain drug. In Chicago, a jury failed to agree on whether Boehringer Ingelheim should pay the man damages, bringing to an end Wednesday the latest trial in which the deactivated heartburn drug Zantac may cause cancer. This is the second time a jury has failed to reach a verdict in a trial, and the drug is currently subject to a wave of lawsuits and has been discontinued.

"We are grateful for the jury's discretion," Eric Olson, a lawyer for plaintiff Ronald Kimbrough, said in an email. He noted that Boehringer Ingelheim failed to convince juries of the drug's safety in two trials. Olson's lawyer says the case will be reopened. Boehringer Ingelheim did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Boehringer Ingelheim, a private German drugmaker, was the sole defendant in the Cook County Circuit Court trial. The plaintiff, Ronald Kimbrough, has reached settlements with other companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, which originally developed the drug, and Pfizer, which opened the new label.

Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and Sanofi have sold Zantac at various times since it was approved in 1983 and have been involved in tens of thousands of cancer-related lawsuits. The lawsuit began in 2020, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration asked manufacturers to pull the drug from the market due to concerns that its active ingredient ranitidine could degrade over time or be converted to the carcinogen NDMA when exposed to high temperatures.

Three previous lawsuits over Zantac went to trial in Illinois, two of which ended in favor of the defendants and one in favor of the plaintiffs by jury. In 2022, drugmakers won a major victory in federal court in Florida when a federal judge rejected the testimony of plaintiffs' expert witnesses for not using sound scientific methods, with the cases concentrated in her courtroom. Due to the lack of these witnesses, these cases cannot proceed, although some plaintiffs are appealing.

The Delaware Supreme Court said last month it would consider a request by drugmakers to exclude similar expert testimony. More than 70,000 lawsuits have been filed in the state, most of them remaining. A lower court judge refused to exclude expert testimony, allowing the case to proceed. Sanofi has agreed to and dismissed about 4,000 lawsuits against it, while Pfizer has reportedly agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits.