After a federal judge denied a lung cancer plaintiff the ability to use the “any exposure” theory to press his asbestos lung cancer claim, a federal jury has ruled that a pipefitter’s lung cancer may have been caused by his pack-and-a-half a day cigarette smoking habit, rather than asbestos exposure.

On May 1, the jury ruled in a Chicago federal court in favor of defendants ExxonMobil and Owens-Illinois and against plaintiff Charles K.

Charles, a retired pipefitter, had sued the companies, along with others, claiming the lung cancer from which he suffered had been caused by asbestos exposure from the 1950s to the 1990s while performing work in buildings in which asbestos-containing products were used. He had filed the asbestos lung cancer lawsuit in 2010, two years after he was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Charles’ asbestos lung cancer lawsuit eventually proceeded to a jury trial in April. However, in the months leading up to the trial, the parties had argued over which expert witnesses would be allowed to testify on Charles behalf, and what those witnesses would be allowed to tell the jury.

Charles’ lawyers had asked the court to allow the witnesses to testify concerning their alleged knowledge of asbestos exposure, and particularly the “any exposure” theory, under which any exposure to asbestos results in injury and is considered to potentially cause cancer. At trial, Charles’ counsel argued his lung cancer was the product of a “synergistic effect” between his cigarette smoking and asbestos exposure. He admitted he had smoked cigarettes for three decades, quitting in 1982.

Lawyers for ExxonMobil and Owens-Illinois, however, disputed this theory, arguing that it was scientifically unreliable. After a two-week trial, the jury found the cigarette smoking was the “sole proximate cause” of Charles’ lung cancer, leaving unanswered the questions of the companies’ negligence in the asbestos exposure case.

Asbestos Exposure

Even though the average asbestos levels in buildings today seem to be very low, an estimated 3 million employees in construction and general industry face significant asbestos exposure on the job. The heaviest exposures are in construction, primarily during the removal of asbestos during renovation or demolition. Workers are also likely to be exposed during the manufacturing of asbestos products such as textiles and insulation.

Most people who develop lung cancer were exposed to toxic asbestos while on the job. In order to pay for the cost of treatment and other damages, patients and families file asbestos cancer lawsuits against manufacturers.

The dangers of asbestos to human health were known for decades by manufacturers and others in the asbestos industry, yet those dangers were not publicized. That failure led to a massive U.S. asbestos tort, one that permits people who develop asbestos lung cancer to file lawsuits over their illnesses.