Category: Expert Challenges

Case Decisions / Expert Challenges / New York / Single Fiber, Cumulative Exposure / Summary Judgment
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Friction Defendants Granted Summary Judgment on the Issue of Causation

On August, 2, 2017, Nassau County Supreme Court Justice Julianne Capetola granted various defendants’ motion to renew and re-argue the court’s prior denial of the defendants’ combined Frye/summary judgment motions as to the issue of causation. Upon renewal, the court granted summary judgment to the defendants.

By way of background, plaintiffs Giulio Novello and Rosaria Novello brought suit in the Nassau County Supreme Court seeking damages for personal injuries against various automotive-related defendants. The plaintiffs contended that Novello’s lung cancer diagnosis was causally related …

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Case Decisions / Expert Challenges / New Jersey
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Consideration of Decedent’s Specific Exposure History Renders Testimony of Dr. Jacqueline Moline Reliable

Decedent Gerald Hoffeditz alleged asbestos exposure from automotive and heavy equipment repair on various vehicles, including large military trucks while working at the Letterkenny Army Depot. He subsequently passed away from mesothelioma. Various defendants moved to exclude the evidence and testimony put forth by the plaintiff’s expert Dr. Jacqueline Moline. The court denied this motion.

For expert testimony to be admitted, the proffered witness must: (1) be qualified; (2) testify about matters requiring scientific, technical or specialized knowledge (reliability), and (3) assist the trier of …

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Case Decisions / Expert Challenges / South Carolina
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Each and Every Exposure Theory Insufficient to Prove Specific Causation in South Carolina Federal Court

This decision addresses a similar issue from two different cases and therefore was decided within the same order. Both sets of plaintiffs offered the opinions of Carlos Bedrossian, MD to provide evidence of specific causation.

For a brief factual background, plaintiff John E. Haskins served in the U.S. Navy as a fireman aboard the USS Coney. Haskins was diagnosed with mesothelioma in November of 2014 allegedly caused by his cumulative exposure to asbestos from working with and around asbestos-containing products manufactured or distributed by the …

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Case Decisions / Expert Challenges / Maryland
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Plaintiffs’ Daubert Challenge Denied as Expert Disclaims Causation Expertise

Plaintiffs filed their Daubert challenge seeking exclusion of Georgia Pacific’s Certified Industrial Hygienist, Donald Marano. Plaintiff argued that Mr. Marano would offer qualitative and quantitative exposures of Plaintiff along with the risk and causation of Mr. Arbogast’s mesothelioma. Georgia Pacific countered with the position that Mr. Marano has “repeatedly disclaimed any expertise on causation and has confined his opinion to explaining the risk assessments performed by various agencies and organizations and offering his risk assessment opinion based on the analysis that his profession is trained …

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Case Decisions / Expert Challenges / Maryland / Summary Judgment
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Exclusion of Plaintiffs’ Causation Experts Leads to Granting of Summary Judgment

Plaintiffs filed suit against Georgia Pacific (“GP”) and Union Carbide Corporation (“UCC”) alleging Mr. Rockman’s peritoneal mesothelioma was caused by exposure to asbestos for which both Defendants were responsible. Specifically, Mr. Rockman claimed “bystander” exposure to GP’s Ready Mix joint compound that contained UCC’s Calidria chrysotile asbestos during residential renovations in 1965, 1973 and 1976. Plaintiff stated that he was exposed during his time living in a Brooklyn apartment when a ceiling was repaired in 1965, again in 1973 during wall repair in Baltimore, MD …

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Case Decisions / Expert Challenges / Motions in Limine / New York
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NYCAL Court Denies Motion in Limine to Preclude Plaintiff’s Causation Experts

The court issued further rulings in a case previously reported in Asbestos Case Tracker on April 12, 2017. This case involved plaintiff Frederick Evans’ alleged exposure to asbestos-containing dust from his work as an HVAC mechanic from 1955-59. Although the defendants submitted a joint omnibus motion in limine, the only defendant remaining at trial was Burnham LLC. Here, the motion in limine to exclude the causation opinions of the plaintiffs’ experts Dr. Carl Brodkin and Dr. John Maddox was denied.

Burnham argued the plaintiffs’ causation …

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Case Decisions / Expert Challenges / Louisiana / Motions in Limine
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Daubert Challenges Result in Experts Being Allowed to Testify Regarding General Causation; Not Specific Causation

In this federal court case, it was alleged that the plaintiff’s decedent was exposed to asbestos while serving in various job duties while in the U.S. Navy during the 1960s.  The plaintiff brought two Daubert motions seeking to preclude the defendants’ experts, Drs Michael Graham and Mark Taragin, from testifying. Dr. Graham is a forensic pathologist and Dr. Taragin is an epidemiologist.  The court granted in part and denied in part the plaintiff’s motions.

The court would allow each expert to provide general causation testimony …

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Case Decisions / Expert Challenges / Kentucky / Single Fiber, Cumulative Exposure
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Kentucky Appellate Court Rejects “Any Exposure” Causation Theory

In September of 2012, William Stallings filed suit in Kentucky state court against Georgia Pacific and other manufacturers of the asbestos containing products he had been exposed to decades earlier, seeking punitive damages under theories of strict liability and negligence. Specifically, Stallings was diagnosed with mesothelioma allegedly caused by his four years of Naval Service, where he helped operate and maintain boilers aboard the USS Waller. After leaving the Navy, Stallings worked as a drywall finisher, where he alleged exposure from mixing and installing drywall. …

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Case Decisions / Expert Challenges / Louisiana / Motions in Limine
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Mixed Decision on Defendants’ Motion in Limine to Preclude Dr. James Millette

The defendants (pump and valve manufactures) filed a motion in limine to exclude certain studies and videos produced by the plaintiff’s expert Dr. James Millette. The defendants challenged two aspects of Dr. Millette’s proposed testimony. First, they argued that some — but not all — of the academic studies that Dr. Millette relied on are not reliable and do not fit the facts of the case, and thus should be precluded from discussing them at trial. Second, the defendants argued that Dr. Millette should not …

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Case Decisions / Expert Challenges / Louisiana
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Plaintiffs’ Experts’ Testimony of General Causation Not Permitted to Prove Specific Causation in Mesothelioma Case

The defendants moved in limine to preclude testimony of the plaintiffs’ experts Drs. Kradin, Kraus and Parker for their reliance on the “each and every exposure” methodology of causation.

The court began its analysis by stating the standard for expert qualification, which includes: 1) the expert’s scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact issue 2) the testimony is based on sufficient facts or data 3) the testimony is the product of …

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