Judge Rejects Defense Effort to Force Production of Pulmonary Diagnoses

HOUSTON - The judge overseeing the Texas silica MDL has rejected an attempt by defendants to force production of plaintiffs' pulmonary diagnoses and medical evaluations. In Re: Texas State Silica Products Liability Litigation, No. 2004-70000 (Texas Dist. Ct., Harris Cty.).

Harris County District Court Judge Tracy Christopher issued the ruling at the conclusion of an April 16 hearing, where the defendants claimed the information was needed to respond to a recent motion filed on behalf of an MDL plaintiff, who is challenging the constitutionality of Texas' Silica medical criteria laws.

The defendants' April 3 motion stated that the evaluations would …