New York’s Highest Court Puts the “Brakes” on Asbestos Causation Evidence

By and on December 4, 2018

Earlier this week, New York’s highest court effectively endorsed the “Forsterite defense” for chrysotile in friction products. By a 4-1 decision, the Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court order setting aside a jury verdict on the basis of plaintiffs’ failure to prove causation. In Juni v. A.O. Smith Water Products, the court ruled that plaintiffs’ expert evidence “was insufficient as a matter of law to establish that respondent Ford Motor Company’s conduct was a proximate cause of the decedent’s injuries.”

The majority opinion is sparse, only two sentences and sixty-eight words long. A concurring opinion by Judge Wilson, however, is more enlightening. Judge Wilson held that while there was no dispute that raw chrysotile asbestos carries increased risk of mesothelioma, plaintiffs did not submit any proof that chrysotile asbestos, as contained in Ford’s friction products, posed any causal relationship to disease. Ford’s experts set forth the “Forsterite defense” – that as a result of high heat in manufacturing and braking, any chrysotile in friction products would be converted into the “biologically inert” substance Forsterite. Plaintiffs did not produce an expert to rebut this opinion. Instead, plaintiff’s own expert conceded that “no one knows whether the friction product dust to which Mr. Juni was exposed when replacing the used products was toxic.”

This decision is a positive development for friction defendants in New York asbestos litigation and elsewhere. It is also authority for the broader proposition that the central issue is whether asbestos as a purported component of another product can cause disease -and not whether asbestos standing alone causes disease. Plaintiffs need to prove the former to establish general causation, and need to prove general causation before they can demonstrate specific causation.

At the same time, the decision emphasized that it was based “on this particular record.” Thus, the decision may be the result of inadequate trial preparation on the plaintiffs’ part rather than some significant shift in asbestos causation law. We expect the plaintiffs’ bar to respond aggressively in working up causation proof in pending and future cases. This may include finding experts who will attempt to dispute the amount of chrysotile converted into Forsterite, or the toxigenic properties of Forsterite.

 

Filed under Asbestos, Chrysotile, Experts, Forsterite, New York

Fiber Type Crucial In Defending Asbestos Claims

By on March 2, 2012

Asbestos defendants are frequently faced with medical causation testimony from the plaintiff that asserts that, because there is no “safe” level of asbestos exposure, any exposure above some ill-defined “background” level is a substantial contributing factor to the plaintiff’s asbestos-related injury. This theory has become the centerpiece of modern asbestos litigation and discourages minimal exposure cases from going to the jury. However, a strong defense can be mounted to a minimal exposure case, particularly if plaintiff alleges exposure to chrysotile asbestos fibers.

For the toxic tort defense lawyer, an understanding of the two major families of asbestos is critical. From a toxicity standpoint, amphibole asbestos fibers are more potentially toxic than fibers of the serpentine family. Amphiboles tend to: (1) be acid resistant; (2) be persistent in the body; (3) be straight fibers; and (4) contain iron. By comparison,chrysotile asbestos, a member of the serpentine family, has a much more lower toxicity profile, particularly in low exposure settings. Chrysotile: (1) breaks down in the body; (2) is acid soluble; (3) has a soft pliable curly shape; and (4) contains dissolvable magnesium. Because the body handles chrysotile fibers differently, chrysotile is much less potent than amphibole asbestos. An examination of the toxicological literature demonstrates that the mesothelioma mortality risk is much greater from amphibole exposure as compared to chrysotile exposure.

At a meeting of the IADC in February 2012, William G. Hughson, M.D., D.Phil., expressed criticism of the expert opinions commonly expressed by plaintiff experts in asbestos cases concerning chrysotile. Dr. Hughson is the Director of the University of California at San Diego Center for Occupational & Environmental Medicine. Dr. Hughson rejects the view that any exposure above background is a substantial contributing factor to disease and that dose has no bearing on causation. At the same meeting, Bob Manlowe, a lawyer with Seattle-based Williams Kastner, delivered a paper titled, “Literature Refuting Single-Fiber Theory and Zero-No-Threshold/Linear-Dose-Model.” For the asbestos practitioner, the two papers provide a valuable road map to cross-examining plaintiff experts and defending mesiothelioma cases involving chrysotile asbestos.
 

Filed under Amphibole, Asbestos, Chrysotile, Fiber Type, Latency, Linear, Model, Robert Manlowe, threshhold', William G. Hughson, Williams Kastner Tagged with