Opinion ID: 1694475
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: appellees' experts

Text: Dr. Arnold Schecter, physician and professor of preventative medicine at the State University of New York, Binghamton, referred to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin, or dioxin, as a super toxin, because a very tiny amount would produce increased ill effects in an animal. Schecter testified that dioxin was fat-soluble, that it could enter the body through breathing, ingestion or through contact with the skin; that the dioxin in food that was eaten and not eliminated through waste would be absorbed into the bloodstream and throughout the body's organs; and that dioxin was a persistent compound, with an estimated half-life of seven years. Schecter testified that studies showed that human health effects resulting from exposure to dioxin included several different cancers; malformation and death of unborn children; weakening of the immune system; liver damage; lipid alteration; damage to the central nervous system; skin rashes; and learning disabilities. Schecter felt that there was no doubt that dioxin caused cancer in humans. He had visited with the appellees for less than an hour before trial and had reviewed a number of fish studies performed by the State of Mississippi as well as medical and psychological tests concerning the appellees. He stated that he felt that, based on a reasonable degree of medical probability, the appellees' fear of developing cancer from eating fish from the Pascagoula River was reasonable. Schecter agreed that a comprehensive medical evaluation, including blood tests, was the best method of determining exposure to dioxin, and stated that he had his own blood and fat tested for dioxin after he became involved with a chemical cleanup in Binghamton, New York. He could not say that the appellees' health was actually at risk because of their exposure to dioxin. He also did not know the level of dioxin in the appellees' bodies, either before or after their alleged exposure due to eating fish from the river. Dr. Arthur Hume, a member of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Mississippi, was accepted as an expert in toxicology and chemistry. Hume testified that tests had shown that dioxin had a harmful effect on all the different systems in a mammal's body, with the most notorious effect being its ability to damage the immune system. Recent toxicological evidence had convinced Hume that dioxin was a human carcinogen, and Hume also believed that appellees, who had eaten fish from the Pascagoula River, had a reasonable basis for fear of an increased chance of contracting cancer. Dr. Hume agreed that no one could know the level of dioxin in the fish eaten by the appellees, however he maintained that it was probable that the fish had dioxin in them. Hume also agreed that the best way to measure increases in dioxin levels after exposure was to take fat or blood samples and test them. Dr. Walter Roberts, a veterinarian and aquatic scientist who had taught in the Departments of Environmental Health and Natural Science at Mississippi Valley State University, had gone to the Leaf River, apparently in 1991, and had caught an unknown number of catfish specimens which he later checked for parasites and bacterial infections. Dr. Roberts found that some of the fish he had caught had lesions on them. His opinion was that the lesions were caused by chemical stress, and he did not find any lesions on fish caught above the mill. Dr. Roberts did not know what chemical had induced the stress in these fish, and he did not claim that dioxin or anything produced by the mill was at fault. Dr. Charlton Stanley, a psychologist, was admitted as an expert in the field of human psychology and particularly in the area of human psychological effect of environmental disasters. Dr. Stanley had seen the Fergusons on May 13, 1991. He interviewed them jointly, and took a history. He found that the Fergusons' primary fear besides contracting cancer was not being able to leave something of value, their property, to their son. Stanley believed that the Fergusons suffered from an adjustment disorder. He believed that the Fergusons' fears and distress were genuine and reasonable under the circumstances. Dr. Stanley had not informed the Fergusons of his findings concerning them and it was his understanding that they had not sought any follow-up psychotherapy or counseling. Guy Blankinship was accepted as an expert in the field of real estate appraisal. Blankinship based his appraisal of the Ferguson property, totaling approximately 14 acres, on 6.1 acres facing the Pascagoula. He estimated a market value of $12,000.00 per acre, for a total of $73,200.00, and stated that the diminution in value of the property due to the presence of dioxin in the Leaf River and the stigma involved with the river was $65,000.00. Blankinship did not know whether dioxin was actually on the Fergusons' property. He had recommended to them that they have the property tested, but they had not tested the property.