First Calif. Zantac Cancer Trial Scheduled for Sept. 30

OAKLAND, Calif. — Trial is set to begin in a California state action in which the plaintiff alleges that Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals failed to warn that its popular antacid Zantac (ranitidine) was contaminated with high levels of N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), a potent carcinogen, causing him to develop bladder cancer.

Jury selection will take place on Sept. 30 in the Alameda County (Calif.) Superior Court before Judge Noël Wise; the case is the first Zantac cancer case in the state to go to trial, and the first against Boehringer to involve punitive damages.

GlaxoSmithKline developed Zantac and later sold the over-the-counter …