Multiple trial courts toss out “single fiber” causation theory under both Federal and state law

By on June 17, 2015

Since the first asbestos filing by a plaintiff’s lawyer, plaintiff medical experts in mesothelioma cases have infamously opined that every exposure to asbestos by a plaintiff – including exposure to a single asbestos fiber – is sufficient to cause disease. Not only does this type of expert testimony ease the connecting of the causation dots, but it permits the recycling of generalized and “boilerplate” expert reports. Recently, however, court rulings have given hope to defendants in the litigation that plaintiffs may now have to put considerably more time and effort into developing their expert opinions by precluding those experts from advancing the “single fiber” theory.

In January 2013, asbestos-fibresthe District Court of Utah rejected plaintiff’s attempt to use “single fiber” expert testimony. Smith v. Ford Motor Co., D. Utah, No. 2:08-cv-630, 1/18/13. In Smith, Ford moved to dismiss the “single fiber” testimony of plaintiff’s medical expert, arguing that the theory was speculative and without scientific foundation. As a result, it was inadmissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993). The district court agreed and found that the pathologist’s opinion was wholly “unsupported by sufficient or reliable scientific research, data, investigations or studies.” The court elaborated that this testimony did “virtually nothing to help the trier of fact decide the all-important question of specific causation” and is based solely on the belief that any exposure should not be ruled out as a contributing cause. Finally, the court pointed out that the fact that this type of testimony survived Daubert challenges in the past was an “aberration.”

In December 2014, the Northern District of Illinois similarly found that this theory was inadmissible under Daubert and Rule 702. In Krik v. Crane Co., No. 10-cv-7435, N.D. Ill. December 12, 2014 (Doc. # 314), the Northern District analyzed the opinions of plaintiff’s medical experts and industrial hygienist, finding that these opinions indeed espoused  the “single fiber” theory. In holding that single fiber causation is “not an acceptable approach for a causation expert to take,” the court noted that “single fiber” causation was inconsistent with Illinois’ express adoption of the “frequency, regularity and proximity” causation test in Thacker v. UNR Industries, Inc., 603 N.E.2d  449, 457. Further, the “any exposure” theory was also inadmissible given plaintiff”s experts’ “wholesale failure to based their opinions on facts specific to this case.” In fact, the court specifically pointed out that plaintiff’s experts admitted in their depositions that they had  not considered any case-specific facts in formulating their opinions.

In April 2015, a New York court also rejected the single fiber theory, finding that plaintiff’s theory of cumulative, unquantifiable exposure did not pass muster under New York’s rules of evidence. Juni v. A.O. Smith Water Products, No. 19031/12, 2015 WL 1623788 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., N.Y. County Apr. 13, 2015). Specifically, the court found that the “every exposure” testimony was insufficient to prove that any specific exposure was a significant contributing factor to causing the disease. The result? An $11 million verdict against Ford was overturned.

These most recent rejections of the “every exposure” theory are significant victories for defendants because they add to the accumulation of similar rulings across the country. After years of accepting the “every exposure” theory, courts are now requiring that both plaintiff and defense expert opinions be based on case-specific facts grounded in science.

Filed under Any Exposure, Asbestos, asbestos exposures, Illinois, single fiber theory of causation, Toxic Tort/Product Liability Litigation

Courts Reject “Single Fiber” Theory Of Asbestos Causation

By on November 2, 2011

A Sixth Circuit case, Moeller v. Garlock Sealing Technologies, LLC, 2011 U.S.App.Lexis 19987 (6th Cir. Sept. 28, 2011), is the most recent in a series of judicial decisions that have rejected the opinions of plaintiffs’ experts in asbestos cases who espouse the “any exposure” or “any fiber” or “single fiber” theory of causation.  Pursuant to this specious line of reasoning, asbestos disease is a cumulative dose response process. Each and every exposure to asbestos during a person’s lifetime, no matter how small or trivial – even a single fiber – substantially contributes to the disease, whether it be asbestosis, lung cancer or mesothelioma. Using this theory of causation, plaintiffs have initiated a wave of new lawsuits against defendants far removed from the production of asbestos containing products.  As defense practitioners are well aware, successfully challenging weak causation expert opinions is key to winning any toxic exposure case, whether it involves asbestos or some other substance.

In a “must read” column in the New York Law Journal, dated October 19, 2011 titled "Courts Shoot Down Asbestos Causation Theory", Michael Hoenig, whose law firm defends asbestos case litigation, describes how plaintiff experts are promoting the “any fiber” or “any exposure” theory in courtrooms across the country and how a series of notable judicial decisions have begun to reject these theories as the underlying scientific methodology is subjected to scrutiny. In a recent amicus curiae brief filed by eleven distinguished scientists in a Pennsylvania asbestos case, none of whom received funding from or testified as experts for any of the parties in the case, the scientists attacked the methodological errors of the “any exposure” expert for:  (1) failing to consider the dose level of exposure and minimum threshold of asbestos fiber levels; (2) failing to consider the physical chemical and toxicological differences between various types of asbestos; (3) failing to distinguish between general causation and specific causation (and not even establishing general causation for chrysotile asbestos); (4) for suggesting that “every exposure” and “cumulative risk” theories are generally accepted when they are not; and (5) ignoring the large body of toxicological studies demonstrating that chrysotile asbestos is not potent as a cancer-causing agent. 

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court observed in Gregg v. V-J Auto Parts Co., 943 A.2d, 216, 223 (Pa. Sup. Ct. 2007), that although it was “common for plaintiffs to submit expert affidavits attesting that any exposure to asbestos, no matter how minimal, is a substantial contributing factor in asbestos disease,” such opinions are not “not couched within accepted scientific methodology.”  The court called the “willingness on the part of some experts” to offer such opinions “one of the difficulties” courts face in the mass tort cases.

As the plaintiff bar continues to look further and further afield in its “endless search for a solvent bystander,” as one well-known plaintiff’s lawyer described the litigation, successful challenges under Daubert and Frye should only increase.  The author thanks Mr. Hoenig for his thoughtful treatment of this important topic.

From a risk management perspective, peripheral toxic tort defendants often decline to mount  Daubert challenges due to the cost and time involved and the uncertainty of the result, particularly when the plaintiff presents them with seemingly  reasonable settlement demands.  As a result, hundreds of peripheral defendants continue to be named in these cases and often pay their "penny in tribute" just to get out of the case.  Unfortunately, in many jurisdictions, judges responsible for large asbestos dockets are unwilling to give appropriate consideration to motions by "shade tree" defendants who might otherwise challenge plaintiffs’ experts’  theories of causation.  Cynically, these judges know that the cases will most likely settle out if this type of motion is given short shrift.  There is little incentive for a peripheral defendant to risk an adverse  judgment at trial merely to earn the right to bring an appeal, no matter how strong the grounds may be.  Hopefully, cases like Moeller will have a trickle down effect and motivate the trial judges responsible for the asbestos dockets to re-think their approach. 

Filed under Any Exposure, Asbestos, asbestos causation, asbestos dockets, Gregg v. V-J Auto Parts, Michael Hoenig, Moeller v. Garlock SealingTechnologies, risk management, single fiber theory of causation Tagged with