MDL Judge Denies Motion To Remand Aqueous Film Case To New York Court
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The federal judge in South Carolina presiding over the multidistrict litigation related to aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) products on May 24 denied the state of New York's motion to remand its case against the manufacturers of AFFF products to state court, ruling that the case was properly removed on the basis of the government contractor immunity defense (In re: Aqueous Film Forming Foams Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2873, D. S.C.). (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News)
Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News - June 5, 2019 Category: Medical Law Source Type: news

Judge: Attorney In Contempt For 'Corrupt' Effort To 'Extort' Money From Chevron
NEW YORK - Steven R. Donziger, the attorney who won an $18.5 billion judgment against Chevron Corp. in a court in Ecuador for injuries only to have it reversed, on May 27 filed a notice of appeal in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenging a district court's ruling that held him in contempt for violations of a previous judgment that ordered him to assign and transfer to Chevron all rights to any contingent fee he has obtained or may obtain in the future (Chevron Corporation v. Steven Donziger, No. 11-691, S.D. N.Y.). (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News)
Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News - June 5, 2019 Category: Medical Law Source Type: news

Judge Dismisses Case Brought By Flint Researcher Against University Academic
LANSING, Mich. - A Michigan judge on May 14 dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Virginia Tech researcher who led the team that exposed the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich., against Wayne State University (WSU) in which the researcher challenged the qualifications of the academic who led WSU's team of investigators and experts working in Flint (Marc Edwards v. Wayne State University, No. 18-110, Mich. Clms.). (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News)
Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News - June 5, 2019 Category: Medical Law Source Type: news

Flint Residents Say Motion To Stay Case Pending Appeal Lacks Merit
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The residents who sued the city of Flint, Mich., and other parties in connection with the city's lead-contaminated water crisis filed a brief in Michigan federal court on May 24, contending that a motion to stay the case filed by some of the defendants lacks merit (In re Flint Water Cases, No. 16-10444, E.D. Mich.). (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News)
Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News - June 5, 2019 Category: Medical Law Source Type: news

Pennsylvania Couple: Monsanto Liable For Cancer From Glyphosate Exposure
PHILADELPHIA - A husband and wife on May 30 sued Monsanto Co. in federal court in Pennsylvania, contending that the wife developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) as a result of exposure to the company's herbicide Roundup, which the plaintiffs say was marketed despite the company's knowledge that it causes cancer (Ruth Yobs, et al. v. Monsanto Co., No. 19-2362, E.D. Pa.). (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News)
Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News - June 5, 2019 Category: Medical Law Source Type: news

Roundup MDL Judge Appoints Mediator, Plans To Rule On Motions To Remand, Dismiss
SAN FRANCISCO - The federal judge in California presiding over Roundup Products Liability Litigation multidistrict litigation on May 22 appointed Kenneth Feinberg as a mediator to help resolve the remaining cases in the MDL while the judge considers multiple motions to dismiss or remand cases to their original jurisdictions (In re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2741, N.D. Calif.). (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News)
Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News - June 5, 2019 Category: Medical Law Source Type: news

Federal Judge Sanctions 2nd Attorney For 'Misconduct' In Glyphosate Trial
SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge in California on May 21 sanctioned a second attorney who represented the glyphosate cancer victim who won $80,267,644.10 against Monsanto Co. in the first federal bellwether trial for the herbicide Roundup, concluding that the attorney violated pretrial rulings in preparing opening arguments (In re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation [Edwin Hardemen v. Monsanto], MDL No. 2741, N.D. Calif.). (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News)
Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News - June 5, 2019 Category: Medical Law Source Type: news

Glyphosate Cancer Victim: Jury's Award Should Be Affirmed Based On Evidence
SAN FRANCISCO - The groundskeeper who won $78,506,418.35 in his glyphosate cancer lawsuit against Monsanto Co. on May 24 filed a brief in California appeals court contending that there is substantial evidence supporting the jury's finding that the toxicological data supports causation and the verdict should be affirmed (DeWayne Johnson v. Monsanto Company, Nos. A155940 and A15670, Calif. App, 1st Dist.). (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News)
Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News - June 5, 2019 Category: Medical Law Source Type: news

Judge Vacates Default Ruling Against Landlord In Lead Paint Lawsuit
BROOKLYN, N.Y. - A New York state judge on April 25 vacated a default judgment against the defendant landlords who failed to answer a lead-based paint poisoning claim against them in a timely manner and accepted a late answer filed by different defense counsel, saying "the defendants did not intend to abandon this action" (I.H. v Hernandez, N.Y. Sup., Kings Co., 2019 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2317). (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News)
Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News - May 22, 2019 Category: Medical Law Source Type: news

Lead Paint Plaintiffs: Court Should Exclude Defense Expert's Testimony
MILWAUKEE - Plaintiffs who sued the former makers of lead-based paint on May 17 moved in Wisconsin federal court to exclude the testimony of a defense expert on grounds that the court has previously excluded most of his opinions, particularly those based on estimates of parental IQ (Glenn Burton v. American Cyanamid, et al., No. 07-0303, E.D. Wis.). (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News)
Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News - May 22, 2019 Category: Medical Law Source Type: news

Missouri Federal Judge Remands Property Owners' Landfill Contamination Class Suit
ST. LOUIS - The owners and operators of a Missouri landfill who are accused in a putative class complaint of failing to stop radioactive contamination of neighboring properties failed to establish federal subject matter jurisdiction and to rebut the plaintiffs' showing that the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) local controversy exception applies, a Missouri federal judge ruled May 8, granting a motion to remand (John C. Kitchin, Jr., et al. v. Bridgeton Landfill, LLC, et al., No. 18-672, E.D. Mo., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77640). (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News)
Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News - May 22, 2019 Category: Medical Law Source Type: news

Amici Tell Pennsylvania High Court Aggregate Causation Theory Contradicts Law
HARRISBURG, Pa. - A collection of industry groups filed a joint amicus curiae brief in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on May 14, contending that a lower court erred when it approved the plaintiffs' aggregate causation theory in a wrongful death lawsuit because the Frye evidence standard was not met (Richard Thomas Walsh v. BASF Corporation, et al., No. 14 WAP 2019, Pa. Sup.). (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News)
Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News - May 22, 2019 Category: Medical Law Source Type: news

Putative Class: 3M, Others Conspired To Conceal Groundwater Contamination
WILMINGTON, Del. - A putative class of residents on May 14 filed a lawsuit in Delaware federal court contending that the 3M Co. and others are liable for contaminating their groundwater with per- and polyfluorocarbons (Susan Henry v. Wolverine World Wide Inc., et al., No. 18-01924-MN, D. Del.). (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News)
Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News - May 22, 2019 Category: Medical Law Source Type: news

Judge: Company 'Misconstrues' CERCLA; Liability Ruling Stands In Groundwater Case
HATO REY, Puerto Rico - A federal judge in Puerto Rico on May 13 denied a manufacturer's motion to reconsider a liability ruling in the first phase of a groundwater contamination lawsuit brought by the U.S. government, ruling that the company "misconstrues" CERCLA (United States v. Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company, No. 15-2328, D. Puerto Rico, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80889). (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News)
Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News - May 22, 2019 Category: Medical Law Source Type: news

Panel Reverses, Says Issue Of Material Fact Exists In Legionnaires' Disease Case
RALEIGH, N.C. - A panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals on May 7 reversed a trial court ruling and said a family had established a genuine issue of material fact that the Airbnb hosts from which they rented a cabin were liable for the family's injury from Legionnaires' disease (Cheryl Christine Poage, et al. v. Ira Cox, et al., No. COA18-1066, N.C. App., 2019 N.C. App. LEXIS 378). (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News)
Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Emerging Toxic Torts Legal News - May 22, 2019 Category: Medical Law Source Type: news