MEDICO LEGAL M A G A Z I N E
AN INDUSTRIAL TOXICOLOGY CASE STUDY By Dr Ian Perry is an Occupational and Aviation Medicine Expert Witness with over 25 years’ experience of taking on cases involving duty of care and injuries at work
As Expert Witnesses we all see cases that we think are interesting. We would not take them on if they were not of interest to us personally, and within our compass of expertise to deal with. To others these cases may not seem to be as fascinating, but they all have lessons for each and every one of us to learn from these experiences. This case involved a man aged 40, who alleged he had been poisoned by a substance, some 10 years previously, following a possible exposure of a few hours a day, over a period of a month. This substance could be carcinogenic if inhaled, producing lung tissue lesions over a period of time. One question that our expert was asked over and over again by the appellant’s legal team, was how long could this period of time be? After all, mesotheliomas can appear 20 to 30 years after exposure. Our expert had to become the world’s most informed person on every aspect of this material, as the case was going to be heard some months hence in a Western Court. Our expert was instructed by the employers of the man
Sp o n s o re d by:
involved, as they wished to defend the claim, that this man had been unable to work normally for the intervening 10 years, and he was claiming loss of earnings, which was a considerable sum, for that period of time. Where to start? Well where would our appellant have found information that this substance could have affected him for 10 years? Wikipedia is interesting in this type of case and always worth an initial read. To defend such an allegation however requires specialist knowledge and where to find it. Proof is required to support any statement made, and as we know this is a long and arduous task. This substance had a reputation going back long before the start of the Internet. Those who write dissertations for higher qualifications are always being told, especially by me, that you need to read real books, in real libraries, and look up the references in such books, to get the true history and story. This chemical had been used in the metal industry for 70 to 80 years. There were documented cases of lung cancer
19
