Dose Size Matters: New York Appellate Courts Apply Stringent Specific Causation Standards In Recent Asbestos Litigation

The New York appellate courts have recently issued several rulings that have applied the well-settled standard for specific causation (ie, that the amount, duration, and/or frequency of the plaintiff's exposure to an allegedly toxic substance was a substantial contributing factor to the development of plaintiff's disease) to find a plaintiff's expert testimony insufficient in asbestos cases. The key takeaways from these decisions are: (1) in order to establish specific causation, a plaintiff's expert must provide a specific, scientific expression of the levels of asbestos from a particular product necessary to cause a plaintiff's disease; and (2) in support of summary judgment motions on the specific causation issue, it may be necessary for defendants to provide their own expert opinions that exposure to particular levels of asbestos fibers released from their products could not have caused the plaintiff's disease.