Eighteen months ago, South Carolina’s state Court of Appeals rejected an asbestos company’s appeal of a million-dollar mesothelioma award. Despite the reasoning provided by the justices and the evidence provided in court, the company took its argument to the state’s Supreme Court. Last week, those judges affirmed the court of appeals’ decision and allowed the victim’s family to keep what the jury said it was owed.
Asbestos Company Argues Insufficiency of Mesothelioma Causation Evidence
The original mesothelioma lawsuit was filed by the family of Stephen Stewart, who died of the rare form of cancer after working with asbestos-contaminated products at his job with Bowater Southern Paper Corporation. While all the companies named in the family’s claim settled the case out of court, Scapa Waycross argued against its liability.
The jury heard testimony that Scapa Waycross dryer felts were used in the machine that the mesothelioma victim worked with, and that at the end of installing a dryer felt he had to use an air hose to blow the asbestos dust that came from the felt off of his clothes and body. The jury awarded the family $700,000, which the judge increased to $1 million because of the victim’s pain and suffering.
Asbestos Company Argues That Mesothelioma Was Unpredictable
In its appeal to the state Supreme Court, Scapa Waycross argued that the mesothelioma verdict should be overturned because the evidence submitted fell short of the state’s requirement and that it fell short of its preferred causation standard. They asserted that the decision was improperly based on a cumulative dose theory.
The Supreme Court rejected this argument and said that the court had properly allowed the victim’s expert witness to testify that “as the amount of asbestos accumulates in the body, the likelihood of developing mesothelioma increases.” The court said that this testimony satisfied its requirements regarding evidence and affirmed the appeals court’s rejection of the company’s request to overturn the verdict.
If you have lost someone you love to malignant mesothelioma, the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net can help. Contact us today at 1-800-692-8608.
