Chicago Injury Law Blog

Diacetyl, a chemical used in microwave popcorn butter flavoring, is directly responsible for a nationwide outbreak of a rare respiratory disease impacting the microwave popcorn industry.

Formally known as bronchiolitis obliterans, the disease is more commonly referred to as popcorn lung or popcorn worker’s lung. Workers who routinely breathe vapors from butter flavoring before adding it to microwave popcorn have developed shortness of breath, hardening of the lung tissue and other alarming respiratory issues. Avid consumers of popcorn may also be at risk. The damage cannot be reversed and the most serious cases of popcorn lung are life-threatening.

 

Severe symptoms can occur suddenly but this illness is frequently misdiagnosed as asthma, bronchitis or emphysema. Symptoms to watch for include shortness of breath, weight loss, night sweats and fever. 

 

Contact an Experienced Attorney

 

The Pintas Law Firm is currently investigating cases for microwave popcorn plant victims nationwide. If you work in a microwave popcorn plant and have experienced respiratory problems or other health-related issues, contact us immediately for a free consultation and evaluation of your legal rights. 

Posted In Industrial Exposure
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The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a jury verdict of $3 million awarded to a welder injured by welding fumes.  The focus of the appeal was expert testimony by Dr. Michael Houston, who  stated that the plaintiff's pulmonary and respiratory problems were caused by inhaling welding fumes. The expert further testified that the plaintiff would need to be retrained to work a job in an irritant free environment. 
This is one of the few welding fume cases that the plaintiff was successful. It is interesting to note that the plaintiff focused on exposure to welding fume chemicals other than manganese. 

Read the full article at LexisOne.

Posted In Welding Fume
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" Edward Martin, an insulator, and Robert Lettiere, a boilermaker/steam fitter, alleged that they were exposed to asbestos in powerhouses by the negligent conduct of Robert A. Keasbey. Lettiere originally filed a claim for asbestosis but amended his complaint after he was diagnosed with lung cancer in June 2005.

At trial, Keasbey argued that the men’s lung cancers were cigarette smoking-related and that they were not exposed to significant enough doses of asbestos to cause lung cancer.

But on March 22, after phase I of the reverse-bifurcated trial, the jury returned an $11 million award for Robert Lettiere for pain and suffering.

At the same time, the jury returned $26 million for Edward Martin and his wife, Bonita, including $18 million for pain and suffering; $942,850 in economic damages to Bonita Martin; $9,063 in economic damages to Edward Martin, and a loss of consortium award of $7 million."

Read the full article at LexisOne.

Posted In Asbestos
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We have been discussing this new type of asbestos exposure on our radio show, 102.3 WYCA in Chicago.  Overseas brake pad manufacturers may still use asbestos when making their brake pads.  People performing brake jobs on old cars should also be aware.  The grinding of the pads releases the asbestos dust into the air, presenting a serious hazard to those exposed.
This is the first actual verdict I have heard of:

"DaimlerChrysler Corp. must pay $20 million to a retired police officer and brake repairman whose right lung was removed because of cancer caused by asbestos, a jury ruled.

A jury in Manhattan's state Supreme Court ruled that Alfred D'Ulisse, 73, of North Massapequa, N.Y., and his wife were owed a total of $25 million, D'Ulisse's lawyer Jerry Kristal said Monday.

DaimlerChrysler was found to be 10 percent liable for D'Ulisse's cancer, but will be responsible for a total of 80 percent of the damages because two other companies found to be liable no longer exist, Kristal said."

Read the full article at Law.com.

Posted In Asbestos
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"NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Industrial talc, an open-pit- mined mineral used in ceramic, paint, and paper manufacturing contains lethal, cancer-causing asbestos fibers responsible for a pottery artisan's fatal mesothelioma, a jury ruled today in the first-ever U.S. verdict connecting industrial talc with asbestos-related cancer."
"More than $3 million in compensatory damages were awarded by a Middlesex County Superior Court jury to a New Jersey widow whose husband operated pottery studios in Skillman, Lawrenceville and Lambertville, New Jersey before contracting the agonizingly painful, always fatal disease."

Read more at Yahoo.com. Posted In Asbestos
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"The second lawsuit in six months against welding-rod makers began on Tuesday in federal court in Cleveland with lawyers again arguing over who is to blame for neurological problems suffered by welders.

In a lawsuit that is being watched closely by the welding industry, two South Carolina men sued five companies, including Euclid-based Lincoln Electric Holdings, claiming the fumes released by welding rods the businesses manufactured caused the men to get sick.

About 3,800 similar cases from across the country were consolidated in U.S. District Court in Cleveland. Judge Kathleen O'Malley presided over the first case, and the second is also in her court."

Read the full article at Cleveland.com. Posted In Welding Fume
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"A McLean County jury has awarded about $5.5 million in a wrongful death suit accusing numerous companies of exposing a man to asbestos and hiding risks of the material.

The lawsuit, filed in summer 2004, alleged John Hoogerwerf was exposed to asbestos without warnings of its dangers and it caused lung cancer. He fought cancer for a little more than a year before his death on July 17, 2002.

The suit accused numerous companies of a conspiracy to hide the harms of asbestos, but last week’s verdict was solely against Honeywell International Inc. Hoogerwerf installed insulation on pipes and boilers using materials sold by Bendix, which eventually became part of Honeywell."

Read more at The Pentagraph.com Posted In Asbestos
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In September of last year a Missouri state jury awarded a plaintiff's estate $13.3 million after finding  his diagnosis of a rare blood disorder was caused by Benzene exposure.  The suit involved a chemical leak from a BP plant in Missouri.  The leaked chemicals contained Benzene, and the BP did not dispute that there was a leak, only that the leak was not the cause of the blood disease.   The  blood disease eventually  turned into Leukemia and caused the plaintiff's death.
Although nearly a year old, it is a substantial verdict considering the myriad of studies regarding  Benzene exposure and health problems.  This could be the first in a long line of successful cases brought by those injured by Benzene exposure.  Posted In Benzene
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A New York State jury returned a verdict of $3.5 million to the Estate of a man exposed to asbestos found in welding rods. Unlike the majority of welding fume claims, this case involved the asbestos exposure from the welding rods, and not the manganese exposure. The asbestos related injuries are easier to prove, thanks to the years of asbestos litigation and scientific studies.
Parkinson's Disease and Parkinsonism are non-asbestos related injuries. The Parkinson's cases are based on the exposure to manganese and other elements in welding fume, not asbestos. The judge heading the welding fume MDL recently allowed evidence and expert testimony regarding the link between welding fume and Parkinson's. However, the plaintiffs in the early welding fume cases have had difficult proving their burden in the initial cases. Continue Reading Posted In Welding Fume
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In the first of four bellwether federal trials, an Ohio federal jury on June 27 found that four welding rod manufacturers did not distribute defective products or fail to warn a former welder of the alleged defects. The case originally started in Texas, but was later sent to the MDL in Federal court.
For those keeping score, that is 11 defense verdicts in 12 tries.  The cases being tried at the federal level are agreed upon by both sides, so the best plaintiff's cases are not going to trial.  In fact, a case settled on the eve of trial earlier this year. 

Read more at Law.com here. Posted In Welding Fume
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"A jury in Dallas, Texas, last week awarded $13.5 million to the survivors of a man who contracted an asbestos-related cancer decades after being exposed to a joint-compound product manufactured by Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific Corp.

Attorneys from Dallas-based Baron & Budd told jurors that Timothy Shawn Bostic, who died of mesothelioma on Sept. 5, 2003, had been exposed to the fire-retardant mineral as a child and teen working with his father. According to Baron & Budd lawyers Charla G. Aldous and Chris Panatier, evidence at trial included documents showing that Georgia-Pacific officials knew of the health hazards caused by asbestos as early as 1966, but the company continued to manufacture asbestos-containing products until 1977.

Bostic’s wife and child had been awarded $9.3 million in March 2005 in the case. But, said Aldous, because the trial judge expressed concern over the way the jury had calculated punitive damages, she offered the plaintiffs the opportunity to either accept a reduced award or face a new trial.

'We decided to take a chance on a new trial,' said Aldous. 'As it turned out, that was a good decision.'"

Read the full article at Law.com here.

Posted In Asbestos
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Supreme Court announced March 29 that it will not grant a defense motion to appeal a $1 million judgment, which means a December appellate panel opinion affirming failure to warn and failure to investigate causes of action against the welding defendants will stand (Lawrence E. Elam v. Lincoln Electric Co., et al., No. 102015, Ill. Sup.).

Posted In Welding Fume
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The federal judge overseeing the Welding Fume MDL in Cleveland, Ohio, recently ruled to allow evidence and expert testimony linking welding fumes and Parkinson's Disease. Defendant companies have long argured that pinpointing the origin of neurological diseases such as Parkinson's is difficult, and to say that welding fumes is the cause is impossible.
However, it has been known since the early 1930's that manganese causes specific neurological disorders such as manganism and Parkinson's Disease. It is the manganese inhaled in the welding fumes that has effected potentially 500,000 welders nationwide.

Posted In Welding Fume
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