W.Va. Court Precludes Defendant from Contesting Medical Causation

MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. -- A West Virginia trial court has found that the collateral estoppel doctrine precludes a benzene defendant from contesting the issue of medical causation in a civil action, since the state's highest court had already weighed in on causation in a separate workers' compensation claim. Casdorph, et al. v. West Virginia State Police, et al., No. 03-C-109M (W.Va. Cir. Ct., Marshall Cty.).

In the Feb. 4 decision, the West Virginia Circuit Court for Marshall County said that since the workers' compensation Office of Judges was acting in a judicial capacity, its determination that the decedent's illness was linked …