Bridging the Gap Between Science and the Law

A recent article by Marinaccio and colleagues examined gender differences and modalities of asbestos exposure in malignant mesothelioma (MM). The results are some of the first to examine gender differences in mesothelioma risk, with significantly more cases of MM attributed to occupational asbestos exposure in men than women. The author concluded that non-occupational exposure to

Malic acid is a versatile ingredient that is commonly found in food and dietary supplement products. Lately, malic acid has become the target of a growing number of lawsuits. Briefly, the suits allege that certain products are labeled as containing “no artificial flavors” but list malic acid as an ingredient. The suits continue by saying

This article was co-written with William Wilt, President of Assured Research, a research and advisory firm dedicated to delivering highly customized, actionable research and analysis to insurance and investment professionals. It was adapted from their November 2018 briefing. In their February 2018 Assured Briefing warned: “Insurers need to get on board with the scientific revolution or risk being run

A recently published article authored by Drs. Michele Carbone, Haining Yang, and Harvey Pass (among others) is relevant to asbestos and talc defendants because it provides additional data supporting the conclusion that inherited genetic variations cause mesothelioma in some persons without any known exposure to asbestos. Most notably for asbestos and talc litigants, 57 out of the

A new paper by Kharazmi and colleagues present important data regarding the heritable nature of mesothelioma using epidemiological techniques to analyze the population-based Swedish Cancer Registry. The results, reported in the European Journal of Cancer, are important because the findings confirm that both genes and exposures are relevant, and on their face, appear helpful to

An interesting new paper about the BRCA1 gene was published in the journal Nature last week (see here for a summary of the findings). The article is notable because it appears to offer some intriguing possibilities for relatively rapidly bringing even better genomic knowledge into cancer cases. In short, the article is focused on using

This is our second comment on a very recent paper (Panou 2018) reporting findings from a study looking for germline (inherited) variants (mutations) in persons afflicted by mesotheliomas. The paper reported results from a custom gene panel analysis of 195 genes associated with cancers to study a cohort of 198 persons, mainly persons who were

As many of our readers know, there have been two recent, large toxic tort verdicts:  (1) $4.6 billion talc verdict against J&J (22 ovarian cancer cases); and (2) $300 million glyphosate verdict against Monsanto. In both cases, the role of genomics has been oversimplified by the plaintiffs. Specifically, some plaintiff counsel have argued that individual

Some scientific findings provide both opportunities and risks for litigants in mass tort cases. The point is highlighted by a new paper by Panou and colleagues published in mid- August in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The paper concludes that a significant proportion of patients with malignant mesotheliomas carry inherited (germline) mutations in cancer-associated genes,

On July 10, 2018, a federal lawsuit was filed contending that Canada Dry and its parent company Dr. Pepper Snapple, Inc. misled customers by falsely advertising “Made from Real Ginger”. This suit is the latest among several brought against the company asserting that customers believed Canada Dry Ginger Ale to have health benefits because it