The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is considering overturning a jury verdict in an asbestos lung cancer lawsuit against Ford Motor Company, based on alleged problems with the plaintiffs’ expert testimony.

The expert, Dr. Arthur Frank, offered his opinion that mesothelioma can result from any amount of asbestos exposure. Ford is arguing that the expert’s testimony does not meet a basic level of legal sufficiency. Ford says this opinion was based on an assumption, and that there is no recognized scientific basis for the opinion. Based on prior Pennsylvania supreme court precedent, Ford argues, that opinion is not sufficient expert evidence.

Plaintiffs Richard and Joyce R. filed this asbestos lung cancer lawsuit against several companies alleging Richard’s mesothelioma was caused by his exposure to asbestos at those companies. Specific to Ford, they alleged Richard was exposed to asbestos while he worked at a Ford dealership for three months in 1950. Other defendants settled before trial. In 2011, a jury in Philadelphia awarded Richard $1 million in damages.

Ford now argues that Dr. Frank’s testimony is contrary to prior Pennsylvania case law that prohibits asserting an “any-exposure” theory of causation. Under a pre-trial ruling, Dr. Frank had been barred from using the phrase “every breath” in his testimony. Ford says Dr. Frank’s testimony that any exposure could cause mesothelioma is equivalent to using the phrase “every breath” and therefore goes against the pre-trial ruling.

Ford is also arguing that the lion’s share of Richard’s asbestos exposure occurred during his employment at other companies, not the Ford dealership.

In response, Richard and Joyce argue that Dr. Frank’s statement that there is no “safe” level of asbestos exposure was not the basis for his ultimate determination.

Ford says Dr. Frank was merely reiterating a consensus from within the scientific community, that even a minimal amount of asbestos exposure can lead to mesothelioma. Ford also says the record does not show Richard received 40 years of asbestos exposure at other employers.

Richard and Joyce contend that Ford is asking the court to second-guess the jury’s verdict.

Asbestos Lung Cancer

Mesothelioma is a cancer of the pleura, the double-layered membrane between the lungs and the inner wall of the chest. Treatment can require surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy, but the disease is always fatal.

In the United States, the only known cause of mesothelioma is asbestos exposure, and it can take about 30 years after exposure for mesothelioma to develop.

Asbestos is made of a mineral composed of microscopic fibers that can become airborne, inhaled, and lodged in lung tissue. Before it was banned in the United States, it was used in a wide variety of industrial applications such as shipbuilding, automotive parts, paper mills, roofing materials, construction, and others.

Decades later, victims of asbestos mesothelioma have come forward to seek compensation. Plaintiffs like Richard find themselves having to rely on expert testimony to link their current mesothelioma to asbestos exposure at a particular job many years before.

The Asbestos Lung Cancer Lawsuit is Case No. 56 EAP 2014, in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.