2BInformed: The Future of Fluoride in Drinking Water, the New TSCA Fees Rule, and the Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List 5
DynCorp's 'Strategic' Defense In Drug Crop Spraying Suit
Plaintiffs in toxic tort cases must prove both general and specific causation, generally through the testimony of experts. Experts must establish that a specific chemical exposure can (and did) cause the specific injury at...more
Takeaway: We have discussed the pleading requirements that apply to cases alleging that products are toxic or otherwise contaminated with some sort of harmful substance or chemical. See Federal court dismisses false...more
Court: Appellate Court of Maryland - A Maryland appellate court has affirmed a lower court’s decision that granted summary judgment to the defense in a toxic substance exposure case....more
Court: Washington Superior Court, Pierce County - A Washington state court in April awarded $16 million to the estate of decedent Steven Korzerke after a default judgment was entered against defendant Asbestos Corp. LTD, a...more
Jurisdiction: Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, State of Louisiana - A Louisiana Jury returned a plaintiff’s verdict May 7 after an eight-week trial against Johnson & Johnson and Pecos River Talc LLC....more
The legal landscape surrounding Depo-Provera, a long-acting injectable birth control, has entered a pivotal phase. With the growing number of lawsuits alleging that the drug caused serious brain tumors known as meningiomas,...more
Maffei v. A.O. Smith Water Prods. Co. (In re N.Y.C. Asbestos Litigation), 2025 N.Y. Slip Op. 1425 (N.Y. App. Div. 2025) - Valuing asbestos cases can sometimes be complicated but on March 13th, 2025, the NY Appellate Court...more
On February 7, 2025, Judge Walker, sitting in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, ruled that the Plaintiff (a subsidiary of a parent company engaged in nationwide talcum powder litigation)...more
Jurisdiction: Broward County Circuit Court - A Florida jury on April 23 handed down an $18 million verdict in aperitoneal mesothelioma case brought by the law firm of Maune Raichle Hartley French & Mudd, LLC....more
Data centers use various chemicals that have recently been the focus of regulatory efforts at the federal and state level. The historic or future use of these chemicals may create liabilities, obligations, or new costs for...more
Asbestos workers in the state of Louisiana who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer or asbestos lung cancer may be eligible to file a lawsuit or bankruptcy trust claim against the companies responsible for their...more
As a sovereign entity, the United States government is immune from suit unless it consents to be sued. However, its sovereign immunity may be waived under certain circumstances under the Federal Torts Claim Act (“FTCA”),...more
Asbestos fibers, chemical fumes, environmental pollutants—what do they have in common? They all involve injuries that manifest over time and are continuously at the center of the complex exposure trigger debate....more
It is becoming almost impossible to avoid being exposed to multiple different chemicals on a daily basis. Companies use them to make their environments look and smell cleaner, to keep pests away, and to save time in...more
Last month, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) announced its new classification for “automotive gasoline and some oxygenated gasoline additives.” In a result that follows IARC’s previous pattern and...more
What You Need to Know in a Minute or Less - Effectively defending emerging contaminant litigation requires counsel capable of navigating extremely complex scientific issues related to causation, while also not losing sight of...more
Court: Florida – 17th Judicial Circuit Court - Plaintiff, Denise J. Guth Cook alleged asbestos exposure from consumer talc products and automobile parts. She specifically alleged bystander and household exposure from...more
A Colorado jury issued a defense verdict following a six-week trial during which four women alleged their respective cancers were caused by exposure to EtO emitted by the nearby Terumo Blood & Cell Technologies Lakewood plant...more
A March 2024 study published by The BMJ revealed that women who were injected with Depo-Provera (medroxyprogesterone acetate) are more than five times more likely to be diagnosed with a type of brain tumor known as...more
Mass tort cases present unique challenges for both plaintiff’s and defense counsel. Unlike a class-action case, where a representative plaintiff stands in for the other members of the class, each plaintiff in a mass tort case...more
In Nationwide Property & Casualty Insurance Company v. Hampton Court, L.P., et al. the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia granted an insurer's motion for judgment on the pleadings that it owed...more
The Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) MDL has taken a significant step forward with the introduction of a new case management program intended to streamline the complex process of product identification. The program’s...more
Jurisdiction: Illinois Circuit Court – Cook County - This lawsuit involved a survival and wrongful death action brought under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) in Illinois. Plaintiff, Annette Sanders, represented...more
The Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals upheld summary judgment for Exxon Mobil corporation in Stanley Cole v. Exxon Mobil Corp. (No. 14-22-00756-CV), a premises liability case involving alleged exposure to olivine dust. The...more
Harris Beach Murtha attorneys Abbie Fuchs, Dan Strecker, and Alessandra Ash review and analyze key judicial holdings and legal developments in federal court and tort hot spots across the country that have affected the...more