Debates on Expert Admissibility, General Causation Ensue in Texas Pretrial Hearings

ANGLETON, Texas -- Defense counsel in a Texas welding rod case that was expected to go to trial in late September stated during a pre-trial hearing that manganism is a "signature-type" disease, a transcript obtained by HarrisMartin Publishing reveals. Presler, et al. v. Lincoln Electric, et al., No. 23472 (Texas 23rd Dist. Ct., Brazoria Cty.).

Sources told HarrisMartin that the statement, which was made during a Sept. 14 hearing scheduled to address issues related to admissibility of expert testimony, is the first such time in litigation that welding rod defendants have acknowledged that exposure to welding fumes causes a …