Rhom & Haas and Dow Chemical are the targets of a class action cancer lawsuit brought by at least 31 plaintiffs who acquired brain cancer they claim is the fault of the companies' operations at McCullom Lake, according to a press release by the Pennsylvania law firm Layser & Freiwald, P.C. The lawyers claim it is the largest brain cancer cluster case in the United States.
While the incidents of brain cancer allegedly developed in Illinois, the corporate defendants are headquartered in Philadelphia; which means the Illinois-based plaintiffs will not be represented by Illinois injury attorneys.
The Northwest Herald provides extensive coverage of the brain cancer cases thought to be linked to the chemical plant at its website; along with videos of the victims, investigations, court documents pertaining to the lawsuit and other information.
While the videos and interactive features are free, the articles themselves are available only to paying subscribers. However, copies of each plaintiff's complaint are freely available (as they are public documents).
Plaintiff Bryan Freund was diagnosed with a rare form of terminal brain cancer called oligodendroglioma in 2004, according to his complaint (PDF). His next door neighbor Franklin Branham was diagnosed with another rare form of brain cancer just a few months earlier. His other next door neighbor, Kurt Weisenberger, also was diagnosed with the same form of brain cancer around the same time.
Coincidence? Probably not, according to the lawsuit's allegations that contaminated tap water is to blame:
All of these men contracted brain cancer because, for more than five decades, defendants have been spilling, leaking, and dumping into the air, soil and groundwater massive quantities of highly toxic chemicals, including trichloroethene ("TCE"), 1,1-dichloroethylene ("1,1-DCE") and vinyl chloride ("VC").
The plaintiffs are suing for negligence, nuisance, ultrahazardous activity (strict liability), conspiracy, fraud, misrepresentation and willful and wanton misconduct.
Related Resources:
-
Legal Dictionary: Toxic Torts (FindLaw)
-
Did a Toxic Waste Dump Cause Facial Birth Defects? (FindLaw's Injured Blog)
-
Search Chicago Injury Lawyers (FindLaw)
