A man diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma has filed a mesothelioma lawsuit against the seller of talc products used in his wife’s ceramics studio. Stanley Peterson’s claim against Vanderbilt Mineral, LLC has been making its way through the New York City Asbestos Litigation courts, and has finally been freed to move forward after Justice of the Supreme Court Manuel J. Mendez denied the talc company’s motion for summary judgment.
Ceramics Studio Work Exposed Man to Risk of Malignant Mesothelioma
Mr. Peterson was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in March of 2017 and he is still alive to provide testimony in his own case. During his deposition he described working part-time in his wife’s ceramics business in Watertown, South Dakota between 1980 and 2000, opening bags of talc and dumping it into a mixing tank, carrying bags from the delivery truck to the storage space, rolling up recently emptied bags and mixing the “slip” that consisted of clay, talc, silicate and soda ash mixed with water. He swept the workspace, breathing in the dust that was created.
Court Reopens Mesothelioma Lawsuit Despite Talc Company’s Objection
The mesothelioma lawsuit filed by Stanley Peterson was halted by a successful motion for summary judgment filed by the talc company over a legal technicality, but upon reviewing Mr. Peterson’s appeal of that decision the court agreed that the original mistake was not prejudicial to the defendant and allowed the arguments against the motion to be heard. That decision allowed Mr. Peterson’s expert witnesses to provide a significant amount of testimony supporting his argument that asbestos in Vanderbilt’s talc had been the cause of his illness.
Though Vanderbilt’s attorneys denied the presence of asbestos in their talc product or that it caused Mr. Peterson’s malignant mesothelioma, the expert witnesses for Mr. Peterson rebutted their position. A professional geologist testified that the talc mined, milled and sold by Vanderbilt contained tremolite, chrysotile and anthophyllite asbestos fibers and that he had identified it using the same testing methods as used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, while a pathologist testified that the exposure that Mr. Peterson suffered was “many orders of magnitude above background level and that cumulatively it was the cause of his mesothelioma.”
If you or someone you love has been exposed to talc and later diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net can help you connect with the resources you need. Contact us today at 1-800-692-8608.
