Dead geckos found in Heineken can gave man PTSD, suit says

A suit says an Orange County man became “violently ill” and developed PTSD after drinking a can of Heineken beer later found to contain two dead geckos.

George Toubbeh says in the suit, filed Friday in Orange County Superior Court, that he suffered severe abdominal pain after drinking a 24 oz. Heineken purchased at a Ralph’s supermarket in Fountain Valley, Calif., in August 2015.

The suit says Toubbeh noticed a “foul taste” to the beer and began vomiting. His daughter found two young leopard geckos inside the beer can, says the suit, which adds that the lizards were not decomposed and were likely alive when they were sealed into the can.

Toubbeh continued to suffer stomach pains and other digestive problems for several days afterward, the suit says, and also experienced extreme anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. The suit says he missed several weeks of work as a result.

The suit against Heineken and The Kroger Co., the owner of Ralph’s, seeks unspecified damages, medical expenses and loss of earnings.

“Heineken USA holds the safety and integrity of the products we import to the highest standards,” the company said in a statement to The San Francisco Chronicle. “We have investigated this isolated claim and based on a number of factors we confidently believe there is no merit to this claim.”

This story was originally published August 9, 2017 at 10:42 AM with the headline "Dead geckos found in Heineken can gave man PTSD, suit says."