King & Spalding secured another trial victory for client Boehringer Ingelheim in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois involving a claim that its widely used heartburn medication Zantac increases the risk of cancer. Plaintiff Jeffrey Halter alleged that his use of over-the-counter Zantac caused him to develop colorectal cancer.

On August 27th, after a 10-day trial, a Chicago jury rejected the Plaintiff’s claim and reached a defense verdict in three-and-a-half hours. This trial represents the eighth trial in which a jury has refused to find Boehringer Ingelheim liable for causing a plaintiff's cancer. King & Spalding trial teams have either won complete defense verdicts or secured hung juries in cases alleging Zantac caused colorectal, prostate, bladder, and kidney cancer.

Cook County continues to be ranked in the American Tort Reform Association’s list of most difficult jurisdictions for corporate defendants and has been labelled “Ground Zero for Nuclear Verdicts in the State”.

The Halter case was tried by Cory Hohnbaum, Antonio Lewis and Corinne Nabors.