Defendants Request Frye Hearing, Cite 'Questionable' Diagnoses

PHILADELPHIA - Defendants in the Philadelphia silica litigation have asked the court to conduct a Frye hearing for the purpose of excluding the testimony of four plaintiffs' experts who they say have presented unreliable and inadmissible evidence that the plaintiffs suffer from silica-related injury. In re Silica Litigation, No. 030300001 (Pa. Comm. Pls., Philadelphia Cty.).

In a motion filed Sept. 2 in Philadelphia County Common Pleas Court, the defendants argue that the experts diagnosed each plaintiff without considering alternative causes of their lung disease and by applying an "every exposure" theory of causation that is not generally accepted by the …