Judge Finds for Defendant That Linked Plaintiff's Silicosis to Crack Habit

PHILADELPHIA -- A manufacturer of automotive body filler has been awarded summary judgment in a silica case after claiming that warnings on its product were adequate and that the plaintiff's lung disease was more likely the result of his crack cocaine and methamphetamine habit. Freeman v. ITW, et al., No. 090703119 (Pa. Comm. Pls., Philadelphia Cty.).

ITW-Evercoat was granted summary judgment Nov. 25 in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in a case brought by Daniel R. Freeman, who accused the company of failing to warn him that calcium carbonate and talc in Evercoat's automotive products could cause silicosis.

Freeman began …