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Hung jury in latest Zantac cancer trial in Chicago

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Boehringer Ingelheim only defendant after settlements with

GSK,

Pfizer ( PFE )

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FDA pulled Zantac in 2020 over NDMA carcinogen concerns

By Brendan Pierson

Sept 18 (Reuters) -

The latest trial over claims that the discontinued heartburn

drug Zantac causes cancer ended with a hung jury on Wednesday,

as jurors in Chicago were unable to agree on whether Boehringer

Ingelheim must pay damages to an Illinois man who said he

developed prostate cancer as a result of taking the drug,

according to the man's lawyer.

It was the second time a jury failed to reach a verdict

at trial during the

ongoing wave of litigation

over the now-discontinued drug.

"We appreciate the jury's careful consideration," Eric

Olson, a lawyer for plaintiff Ronald Kimbrow, said in an email.

"Boehringer Ingelheim has now twice failed to convince a jury

that Zantac was safe."

He said the case would go to trial again. Boehringer

Ingelheim did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The privately held German drugmaker was the only defendant

at the trial in Cook County Circuit Court, after plaintiff

Ronald Kimbrow settled with others including GSK, which

originally developed the drug, and Pfizer ( PFE ).

Kimbrow, 73, said he took Zantac from 1995 to 2019.

Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Pfizer ( PFE ) and Sanofi all

sold brand name Zantac at various times since it was approved in

1983, and have been named in tens of thousands of lawsuits over

the alleged cancer link.

The litigation began after the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration in 2020 asked manufacturers to pull the drug off

the market over concerns that its active ingredient, ranitidine,

could degrade into NDMA, a carcinogen, over time or when exposed

to heat.

Three lawsuits over Zantac had previously gone to trial, all

in Illinois, with two ending in verdicts for the defense and one

with a hung jury.

The drugmakers won a significant victory in 2022, when a

federal judge in Florida rejected the plaintiffs' expert

witnesses for about 50,000 cases that had been centralized in

her court on the grounds that they did not use reliable

scientific methods. Without those witnesses, the cases could not

go forward, though some plaintiffs are appealing.

The Delaware Supreme Court last month said it would consider

drugmakers' bid to keep similar expert testimony out of court in

that state, where more than 70,000 lawsuits - the vast majority

of the remaining litigation - have been brought. A lower court

judge refused to exclude the experts, allowing the cases to go

forward.

Sanofi has agreed to settle about 4,000 cases against it,

while Pfizer ( PFE ) has reportedly agreed to settle more than 10,000.