An Illinois state judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in a lawsuit alleging that Boehringer Ingelheim’s over-the-counter Zantac caused a man to develop prostate cancer. The Cook County Circuit Court jury could not reach a unanimous verdict in Martin Gross’s case after signaling they were deadlocked.
Jury Struggles to Reach Consensus
The jury, which had been deliberating since Friday afternoon, indicated several times that they were struggling to fully side with either the plaintiff or Boehringer. Their final note, received around 1 p.m., revealed an 8-4 split and stated they couldn’t be swayed without additional evidence.
The two-week trial focused on claims that Boehringer ignored warnings that Zantac’s active ingredient, ranitidine, was breaking down into the toxic compound NDMA, leading to Gross’s prostate cancer diagnosis in 2016.
Zantac Cancer Trial : Previous Zantac Cancer Trial Outcomes
Gross’s jury is the third in Cook County to hear a Zantac cancer case. Earlier this week, a jury rejected plaintiff Carrie Joiner’s colorectal cancer claims against GlaxoSmithKline. In May, both GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer prevailed as co-defendants in Angela Valadez’s similar lawsuit.
