Benzene Plaintiffs Urge 1st Circuit to Reverse Dismissal of Claims, Say District Court Relied on ‘Out-of-Context’ Statements

BOSTON –– Benzene plaintiffs have filed their appellate brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, contending that a lower court erred when dismissing their claims on grounds that one of the plaintiffs’ experts used a “linear no-threshold” analysis in support of specific causation.

In the Jan. 6 brief, the plaintiffs say that the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts erred when it framed statements made by Dr. Sheila Butler in a specific causation context when the comments were intended to be made in a general causation context.

“The surrounding context of the statements singled …