Hammar Time
The Federal MDL's Magistrate Strawbridge has held that Dr. Hammar's opinion "that 'every occupational and bystander exposure to asbestos above background was a substantial contributing factor in causing [plaintiff's] mesothelioma' is sufficiently reliable to meet the admissibility standard of Rule 702 ..." See In Re Asbestos Products Liability Litigation Relating to: Anderson v. Saberhagen Holdings, Inc.
Because Dr. Hammar testified that his theory that every fiber is causative "could be (though it hasn't been) proven from carcinogenic theory (whatever that is) to a reasonable degree of medical certainty" and because "any of the occupational or bystander exposures could have been (though again they haven't been) sufficient to cause [plaintiff's] mesothelioma ..." his testimony ought not be excluded.
So Dr. Hammar gets to testify about legal duty (substantial factor causation) and base his opinions on unverified hypotheses. Oh, and in another case, plaintiffs get to recover money from the trust funds and then deny that their application forms don't establish substantial factor causation. See In Re Asbestos Products Liability Litigation Relating to: Taylor v. Lucent Technologies NC.
Wow. Just wow.
