Burns White attorneys Jeffrey Jackson and Nina Gusmar obtained a dismissal of Plaintiff’s case on behalf of a Class 1 Railroad in a case in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County.
Plaintiff, a former railroad employee, alleged in his lawsuit that he developed chronic myeloid leukemia (“CML”) as a result of his exposure to diesel exhaust and benzene during his railroad employment. Plaintiff retained an expert medical oncologist who opined that Plaintiff’s exposure to diesel exhaust and benzene in diesel exhaust caused his CML.
Prior to the commencement of trial, a motion to exclude the testimony of Plaintiff’s medical expert was argued before Judge Charles Cunningham III of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Judge Cunningham ruled that there was too great a gap between the expert’s cited literature in his report and his conclusions he reached in the case, and excluded his opinion. Because Plaintiff was unable to proceed with his case without his medical causation expert, the court dismissed Plaintiff’s case.