Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Economy

Boehringer Ingelheim faces second hung jury in Chicago Zantac trial

By Brendan Pierson

(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.

“We are pleased that, once again, plaintiffs have failed to convince another jury of the merits of their baseless claims regarding Zantac,” Boehringer Ingelheim said in a statement.

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 (NYSE:PFE).

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

Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Pfizer and Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) 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 has reportedly agreed to settle more than 10,000.

This post appeared first on investing.com

You May Also Like

Investing

Fisker (NYSE: FSR) stock price has been one of the best-performing electric vehicle (EV) stocks this week even as Tesla slumped. The shares jumped...

Investing

Newmont (NYSE: NEM) reported mixed financial results even as the price of gold approached its all-time high. In all, the company’s earnings per share...

Investing

The Fox Corporation (NASDAQ: FOX) stock price has been under pressure as investors come to terms with the abrupt firing of Tucker Carlson. The...

Investing

NatWest (LON: NWG) share price rose sharply, helped by the strong results from Barclays. The stock jumped to a high of 274.8p, which was...




Disclaimer: Oldamericanbroker.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the-company.


Copyright © 2024 Oldamericanbroker.com