CVN screenshot of defense attorney Luke McFarland delivering his closing argument
Jefferson, CO - A Colorado state court jury has cleared a medical sterilization company of all liability for supposedly releasing toxic chemicals into the surrounding community, and the full trial was recorded gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
The Jefferson County jury returned their verdict on March 14 following a lengthy six-week trial in which four women claimed that exposure to ethylene oxide fumes vented by the facility caused their cancer. However defendant Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies successfully argued any ETO exposure occurred at levels too low to cause the plaintiffs' illness.
The trial marks the first time an ETO exposure trial has been subject to gavel-to-gavel video recording, with very few jury verdicts in related cases to date. Sign up for a monthly or annual subscription to CVN’s online trial video library and get unlimited on-demand access to the full trial, including all witness testimony and digital images of exhibits and demonstratives, along with access to hundreds more trials featuring many of the top plaintiff and defense attorneys in the country.
Terumo issued a statement after the trial indicating they are pleased with verdict.
“We care deeply about the Lakewood community, where many of our employees live and raise families, and are committed to meeting or exceeding all relevant health and safety standards in our sterilization of lifesaving medical devices,” the company stated.
Attorney Kurt Zaner, who represents the plaintiffs, issued a statement after the verdict thanking the jury for its services but expressing disappointment in the verdict.
“We will continue to fight on behalf of the residents of Lakewood and all of our plaintiffs as we look forward to the next trial and another chance at holding Terumo accountable,” he said.
Terumo is a global medical device company based in Japan. The plant in Jefferson manufactures life saving blood donation supplies and other blood devices used in hospitals requiring sterilized equipment that can’t be exposed to steam.
During the trial attorneys for the plaintiffs detailed how the plant utilized a vent akin to a whale’s blow hole and a series of “wet scrubbers” to vent ETO fumes, but said despite knowing as far back as the 1980’s that ETO posed a cancer risk Terumo still chose not to install pollution control devices or track ETO levels in the community. That choice supposedly resulted in a small release compared to the overall volume of ETO used, but an amount that supposedly put nearby residents at grave risk over the years.
Terumo’s attorneys stressed throughout the trial that the company met all regulatory safety restrictions, and that a company in compliance with all regulatory requirements shouldn’t be penalized for taking additional measures not legally required.
The plaintiffs were represented by Edelson PC.
The defense was represented by King & Spalding and Norton Rose Fulbright.
The case is captioned Isaacks, et al. v. Terumo Sterilization Services, Inc., case number 2020CV031457 in Colorado’s Jefferson County District Court.
E-mail David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com
