Judge Allows SV40-Cancer Testimony, But Dismisses Case

LOS ANGELES - A federal judge in California has upheld expert testimony regarding the link between Simian Virus 40 (SV40) and cancer in a case involving a two-year-old boy who died from a brain tumor after receiving a polio vaccine allegedly contaminated with the virus. Horwin v. American Home Products, et al., No. 00-04523 (C.D. Calif.).

In a ruling believed to be the first of its kind, Judge William Rea of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, ruled that the plaintiff's expert evidence linking SV40 and cancer met the standards established under Daubert regarding general causation, …