Posted on 03/16/2005 3:26:48 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
Defense wants $1.1M to cover companies' costs from February
U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack could issue a written opinion on a set of silicosis cases by the end of April.
Jack, who has been presiding over the cases, has called doctors' behavior in diagnosing nearly 10,000 patients fraudulent and stunning. However, she said Monday that she probably does not have the authority to throw the cases out of court and probably could only go so far as to express her thoughts on the cases.
"I feel like I have to sanction the behavior from the bench, and I'm going to do that in writing," Jack said.
She expects to document her findings in a roughly 100-page order that will be sent back to the courts where the cases originated. The consolidated litigation is made up of 90 lawsuits from eight states, and Jack was charged with organizing the cases for pre-trial purposes.
During a three-day hearing last month, defense attorneys systematically attacked the doctors, the thoroughness of their work and the legal context in which they determined thousands of workers suffered from silicosis, a chronic and potentially fatal lung disease caused by exposure to silica.
The disease can be diagnosed through the use of lung X-rays, a physical examination and a review of a patient's comprehensive work history and exposure to the dust, which is found in sandblasting, concrete demolition and the production of paint and fiberglass.
Dozens of manufacturing and mining companies are defending themselves against the lawsuits, including 3M Company, Lockheed Martin, Vulcan Materials and U.S. Silica.
Defense attorneys on Monday asked Jack to issue monetary sanctions of $1.1 million against the plaintiffs' attorneys to cover the costs the defendant companies accrued during the February hearings. Jack has estimated that the cost for the hearings, simply to pay the fees of all the attorneys, reached $275,000 per day.
Defense attorney J.A. "Tony" Canales argued that tough sanctions would send a message to other plaintiff attorneys who might consider bringing fraudulent claims to court. He attempted to appeal to Jack's place in legal history with this case.
"The court's order here will be read everywhere," he said. "This has national implications. It will be Judge Jack's order all over the country."
Plaintiff's attorney Mikal Watts said the defendants were attempting to draw the court into a political debate and use whatever order Jack issues to secure tort reforms in state legislatures and Congress.
"This is not the forum for that to happen," he said.
Contact Neal Falgoust at 886-4334_or falgoustn@caller.com
Attorneys Sanctioned Ping!
!!! Holy cow. Do we have some crooked doctors signing their names to crooked documents? Conspiring with crooked lawyers to commit extortion?
Yank their licenses!!
Then, throw 'em in jail!
Sign of the Apocalypse Ping...
"...human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together...MASS HYSTERIA!"
You're fast!
Run for the hills the sky is falling!!!
If they aren't suspended from the practice of law or medicine, who cares? It's just going to be a slight change in the odds, not a situation where the roulette wheel is taken off the table.
The ones that deserve special punishment are the patients who have already collected money for asbestosis, and now are turning around and claiming it's actually silicosis, and won't you please give me another pile of money.
The lawyers, doctors and "patients" all belong in Federal prison for ten-to-twenty.
-ccm
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