Eleventh Circuit Holds That Beryllium Sensitization May Be Cognizable “Injury”

As previously reported, see In Re Products Liability at 13 (July 2006), a federal trial judge in Georgia ruled in March of last year that beryllium sensitivity is not a compensable injury under Georgia law. On April 18, 2007, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals vacated that determination, finding that a genuine dispute of material fact existed on whether beryllium sensitization constitutes "a current disease or impairment and on the probability that the condition will later develop into" chronic beryllium disease.

The named plaintiffs commenced this putative class action on behalf of otherwise asymptomatic individuals seeking recovery for "sub-clinical, cellular, and sub-cellular damages" supposedly caused by exposure to respirable beryllium associated with the manufacture or use of products containing beryllium in the