Zantac Cancer Trials Kick Off in Illinois State Court

CHICAGO — Two Zantac (ranitidine) cancer trials have begun in Illinois state court, in which the plaintiffs allege that the popular antacid they took contained high levels of N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), a potent carcinogen, causing them to develop prostate and colorectal cancer.

In complaints filed in the Cook County (Ill.) Circuit Court, plaintiffs Carrie Joiner and Martin Gross accuse GlaxoSmithKline LL and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. of failing to warn consumers of the risk and of cautioning retailers or customers to refrigerate Zantac, which would have kept it from converting into NDMA.

Joiner, whose trial began on July 18, alleges that …