Expert, Counsel Caught Up in RICO Suit for 'Orchestrating' Claims

WHEELING, W.Va. - A plaintiffs' expert who once diagnosed thousands of claimants with silicosis has been named in a RICO lawsuit stemming from his alleged involvement in a scheme to inundate a major railroad company with fraudulent asbestos claims. CSX Transportation Inc. v. Robert V. Gilkison, et al., No. 05-202 (N.D. W.Va.).

An amended complaint filed July 5 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia accuses Dr. Ray Harron, and counsel who hired him to diagnose railroad workers with asbestosis, of committing wire and mail fraud.

The suit was filed by CSX Transportation Inc., which …