Court Finds Diagnosis is Trigger in Latent Injury Claims

JACKSON, Miss. -- The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi has again found a benzene complaint time-barred, opining once more that claims grounded in latent injuries accrue on the date of diagnosis. Fowler, et al. v. First Chemical Corp., et al., No. 05-00016 (S. D. Miss.).

In the Aug. 30 order, the court opined that because Gordon and Carolyn Fowler do not dispute that Gordon was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1990 -- 14 years before filing suit -- their claims were barred by the three-year statute of limitations. In reaching the decision, the court dismissed the claims …