Ohio Supreme Court Reverses Ruling Involving Prima Facie Evidence in Smoking Lung Cancer Case

COLUMBUS, Ohio –– The Ohio Supreme Court has reversed an intermediate appellate court decision that found a plaintiff could rely on testimony from an expert who never treated the decedent but cited his Veterans Administration medical records to help fulfill part of the competent medical authority requirement of filing an asbestos claim on behalf of a smoker.

In the Sept. 3 ruling, the high court suggested that the plaintiffs should have subpoenaed the Veterans Administration doctor who treated the decedent for a written report in order to establish a true doctor-patient relationship, as required by R.C. 2307.91, an Ohio law …