Jurisdiction: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
The district court granted a motion to compel filed by defendant, Illinois Central Railroad Company, to take the blood sample of plaintiff Gael Garon.
Plaintiff alleges she developed mesothelioma from secondary exposure to asbestos from her father, who worked for defendant from 1949 to the late 1990s.
Defendant argues that inherited genetic mutations may have caused her mesothelioma instead of asbestos exposure and submitted in support an expert affidavit from Dr. Leonel van Zyl, arguing the same from her known medical history.
Plaintiff argued contrarily that there is no possibility of genetic mesothelioma based on an expert report from Dr. Brent Staggs.
The court ruled the motion to compel satisfied Rule 35(a) in that the movant showed (1) the physical state of the relevant party (i.e. the genetic information at issue) was in controversy and (2) good cause exists for granting the motion (the blood test is the only means of obtaining plaintiff’s genetic information).
A copy of the decision is attached.
