FEDERAL JUDGE SLAMS PLAINTIFF ATTORNEYS FOR CREATING“PHANTOM EPIDEMIC" OF SILICOSIS;
10,000 SILICOSIS DIAGNOSES LABELED AS “FRAUDULENT"

In a landmark ruling, a federal judge in Texas has labeled as "fraudulent" approximately 10,000 silicosis diagnoses that form the basis for hundreds of lawsuits in eight states.

In a scathing 249-page opinion released on July 3, U.S. Judge Janis Graham Jack stated that the diagnoses “were about litigation rather than health care" and “were driven by neither health nor justice: they were manufactured for money." The tidal wave of unfounded silica litigation is hurting many U.S. companies, and threatens to overwhelm U.S. respirator manufacturers.

Judge Jack’s ruling is the culmination of almost a year of testimony in “multidistrict litigation" (MDL) hearings related to silica litigation involving thousands of plaintiffs from Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, California, Illinois, Michigan, Oklahoma and West Virginia. The lawsuits name dozens of companies as defendants, from silica suppliers to manufacturers of protective equipment. However, in pre-trial activities, Judge Jack, who was charged with organizing the cases, uncovered thousands of fraudulent diagnoses.

During the MDL hearings, doctors could not support some 10,000 silicosis diagnoses after one doctor said he'd diagnosed approximately 3,500 individuals without seeing the patients or being knowledgeable about the lung disorder. Testimony also revealed that many of the plaintiffs have filed or have already been paid settlements for asbestos claims.

Judge Jack sent most cases back to the state courts with a sharp rebuke to the plaintiffs’ lawyers and doctors. She made it clear that these doctors and lawyers have created a "phantom epidemic" of silicosis, "unnoticed by everyone other than those in the legal system," and signaled clearly that state courts should rule most of the evidence offered by plaintiffs as inadmissible. In addition, Judge Jack fined a Houston law firm for its role in producing the fraudulent diagnoses.

The case revealed plaintiffs' attorneys' and their experts' widespread abuse of the judicial process in silica cases and sets the stage for similar challenges in many states.

Not only are the fraudulent silica claims clogging the courts, but the massive number of silicarelated lawsuits is threatening the availability of respirators used by millions of emergency responders and other workers in the U.S. and abroad for protection against exposure to hazardous materials in the workplace or in the event of terrorist incidents, airborne disease epidemics, and other disasters.

Between 2000 and 2004, plaintiff attorneys filed more than 300,000 silicosis claims against five respirator manufacturers alone alleging injury because of defective design or inadequate warning. Total costs of defending this litigation could actually exceed the total net income from respirator sales, threatening the wide availability, dependable supplies, and high quality of U.S-made respiratory safety products.

“Judge Jack’s decision is more evidence that the mass of silicosis claims in recent years are completely unfounded and fraudulent," said Daniel K. Shipp, President, International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA), a member of the Coalition for Breathing Safety. “Respirator manufacturers provide a product that makes it possible to work or survive in hazardous environments. But they are now being threatened by a flood of bogus lawsuits, despite the fact that the U.S. government tests and certifies respirators to strict federal standards, and approves all warnings.

“Manufacturers cannot affect how or when the respirators are used," he continued. “This industry needs federal legislation to protect respirator manufacturers and sellers against baseless and frivolous lawsuits and litigation fraud."

The Coalition for Breathing Safety was formed in 2004 to ensure that millions of emergency responders, workers and citizens across the globe continue to have access to respirators safety products. The Coalition is seeking a federal solution to protect companies that make these products from the hundreds of thousands of lawsuits now threatening their availability.

For additional information, please contact Paul Nathanson at 202-466-6210 or paul.nathanson@pbnco.com or George Felcyn at 202-466-6210 or george.felcyn@pbnco.com.