Zantac Mistrial: Jurors Stalled in Heartburn Drug Cancer Case

The third trial involving allegations that the discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer ended in a mistrial. Jurors could not decide if Boehringer Ingelheim's drug was responsible for plaintiff Martin Gross's prostate cancer due to NDMA. The mistrial allows the case to potentially return to court.

The third trial over allegations that the discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer has ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a consensus on whether Boehringer Ingelheim was responsible for an Illinois man's prostate cancer, as per the plaintiff's lawyer.

Martin Gross claimed in his lawsuit in a Chicago state court that he developed prostate cancer from a carcinogenic contaminant, NDMA, found in the drug. The mistrial verdict means his case can be retried. Boehringer Ingelheim expressed disappointment, stating that scientific evidence supports a single conclusion: Zantac does not cause cancer.

Approved by U.S. regulators in 1983, Zantac became the best-selling drug by 1988 and surpassed $1 billion in annual sales. Though sold by companies like Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Pfizer, and Sanofi, all faced lawsuits claiming the drug caused cancer. The U.S. FDA had pulled the drug off the market in 2020 over concerns regarding its active ingredient, ranitidine, degrading into NDMA.

(With inputs from agencies.)