Can chew toys cause pancreatitis in dogs?

My friend's family dog recently died from pancreatitis. My friend told me that the vet informed them that the disease was caused by one of two things: the dog getting into the garbage (which I find believable) or the dog chewing on a plastic/rubber chew toy. I find it difficult to believe that a chew toy could have caused fatal pancreatitis, but I'm nevertheless slightly worried since my puppy has a rubber chew toy. Any thoughts on this?