Texas MDL Judge Limits Testimony in Chrysotile Exposure Cases

HOUSTON - The Texas state court asbestos MDL judge has granted in part a motion filed by friction defendants to strike certain expert testimony indicating that chrysotile asbestos in brake linings can cause mesothelioma. In Re: Asbestos Litigation, 2004-03964 (Texas Dist. Ct., Harris Cty.).

In a decision released Jan. 20, Harris County District Court Judge Mark Davidson ruled that only biological testimony identifying the type of asbestos found in a plaintiffs' lung tissue may be heard by jurors. Other testimony, namely epidemiological and other general causation evidence linking chrysotile asbestos and disease, fails to meet the standards necessary to qualify …