Opinion ID: 780554
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Facts as Determined by the District Court2

Text: 10 For more than 20 years before his death on January 4, 1998, Dr. Hanson had been sensitive to secondhand smoke and tried to avoid smoke-filled areas. He suffered from asthma for which he did not receive regular treatment. However, he regularly carried and used a Proventil/Albuterol inhaler to aid his breathing. The frequency of Dr. Hanson's use of the inhaler increased as he aged. 11 Dr. Hanson was also allergic to many foods, including grapes, yeast and tomatoes. The extent of his allergies is unclear; however, Dr. Hanson often ate tomato-based foods without suffering a reaction. 12 Before his death, Dr. Hanson had suffered two medical emergencies that may have been caused by asthma or food allergies. In December 1996, Dr. Hanson and his wife were at a smoky restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada for approximately ten minutes. Before returning to their hotel room, Dr. Hanson and his wife shared a piece of quiche and some cheese pizza. Shortly after returning to the hotel room, Dr. Hanson began having breathing difficulties, to the extent that Ms. Husain called paramedics and had to perform CPR. The paramedics gave Dr. Hanson a shot of epinepherine and transported him to the hospital where he remained overnight. 13 The cause of the Las Vegas attack is unclear. However, at trial, experts for both parties agreed that the episode was likely caused by food-related allergies. Following the Las Vegas attack, Dr. Hanson began carrying an emergency kit containing epinepherine. 14 During the summer of 1997, Dr. Hanson suffered another attack after dining at the home of friends in California. After he returned from a post-dinner walk, Ms. Husain noticed Dr. Hanson was having a difficult time breathing and called paramedics. The paramedics gave Dr. Hanson oxygen and observed him for a short period of time. Dr. Hanson was not taken to the hospital, nor was any epinepherine administered. The cause of the breathing difficulties is unknown. 15 In December 1997, Dr. Hanson, Ms. Husain and their family flew from San Francisco to Athens and Cairo for vacation. The trip involved a stop in New York. Dr. Hanson learned for the first time at the airport in New York that Olympic allowed smoking on international flights. Dr. Hanson and his family asked to be seated in the non-smoking section and their request was honored. On the flights to Athens and Cairo, the family was seated in non-smoking seats away from the smoking section and were not exposed to ambient smoke. Dr. Hanson did not suffer from breathing problems during the trip. 16 On January 4, 1998, Dr. Hanson and his family began the return trip from Cairo to the United State via Athens. The family arrived at the Cairo airport early to ensure they obtained non-smoking seats. Ms. Husain showed the check-in agent a letter from Dr. Hanson's brother, who was also a doctor, indicating that Dr. Hanson had asthma. The family was seated in the non-smoking section on the flight from Cairo to Athens and Dr. Hanson did not experience any breathing problems. 17 During a three to four hour layover in Athens, Dr. Hanson began having problems breathing. The waiting area was very smoky and Dr. Hanson was forced to use his inhaler. An attempt to move to the slightly less smoky first-class lounge was thwarted by airport officials. 18 Upon boarding Olympic Airways Flight 417 from Athens to New York, Dr. Hanson and his family discovered that they were seated in non-smoking seats, but only three rows ahead of the smoking section which was not partitioned off. 3 Immediately after finding their seats, Ms. Husain approached flight attendant Maria Leptourgou, informed her that Dr. Hanson could not be near the smoking section, and asked Ms. Leptourgou to move him. Ms. Leptourgou responded by telling Ms. Husain to have a seat. 4 19 After all of the passengers were seated, but before take-off, Ms. Husain once again approached Ms. Leptourgou and adamantly asked that she move Dr. Hanson to another seat, explaining that he was allergic to smoke. Ms. Leptourgou refused, stating that she was too busy and the flight was totally full. Husain, 116 F.Supp.2d at 1125. 20 Immediately after take-off, passengers in the smoking section were allowed to begin smoking. From that point forward, people in the smoking section were smoking continuously, including people seated in rows 51 through 56 and people in other rows who moved back to the smoking section to smoke and socialize. The smoke began to envelope Dr. Hanson and his family. After Dr. Hanson indicated that the smoke was bothering him, Ms. Husain approached Ms. Leptourgou and, for the third time on the airplane, told her that she needed to move Dr. Hanson for health reasons. Ms. Leptourgou again refused stating that the plane was full. She did tell Ms. Husain that she and Dr. Hanson could ask other passengers to switch seats, but they would not be assisted by the flight crew. Despite one last plea for help by Ms. Husain, Ms. Leptourgou refused to help Dr. Hanson find another seat. 5 21 The amount of smoke floating around row 48 only increased as the flight progressed, especially after a meal was served. While Dr. Hanson ordered a meal, he did not eat much, and shared his meal with his daughter and another passenger. After the meal, Dr. Hanson's breathing problems worsened. He had emptied one inhaler and asked Ms. Husain to get another one. After telling his daughter that the smoke was bothering him, he walked to the front of the cabin to get some fresh air. 22 Ms. Husain followed Dr. Hanson to an area between rows 19 and 20 where he had stopped and was leaning against a chair. The doctor asked for his epinepherine kit, which Ms. Husain retrieved and then administered a shot. She then went to notify Dr. Umesh Sabharwal, an allergist and family friend who was traveling with Dr. Hanson and his family. 23 Dr. Sabharwal helped Dr. Hanson to the floor, administered another shot of epinepherine, and then began performing CPR. Dr. Hanson's pulse was barely detectable and his lower airway was obstructed, though the upper airway was not. Dr. Sabharwal continued to perform CPR and also administered a shot of Bricanyl. Dr. Hanson was also given oxygen during this time. 6 Despite the efforts of Dr. Sabharwal and other passengers who assisted, Dr. Hanson died. 24 Because of religious reasons, there was no autopsy to determine the direct cause of death. In the district court and here, Plaintiffs argued that Dr. Hanson died from a severe asthma attack caused by inhaling secondhand smoke. Defendants believe that Dr. Hanson's death was the result of an allergic reaction to food or some other medical problem unrelated to the smoke. The district court determined that the smoke exposure during Flight 417 was the primary cause of Dr. Hanson's death. We abide by and defer to those findings. 25 Of major significance to the district court was the timing of the events. First, Dr. Hanson was complaining about the secondhand smoke before the meal was served. Second, while Dr. Hanson had some food allergies and he did eat some food on the flight, there was no evidence that he ate any foods to which he was allergic. Third, experts for both parties and Dr. Sabharwal testified that smoke was a contributing factor, though the degree to which it contributed was disputed. Nonetheless, it is for the district court to resolve the factual disputes and to draw inferences from the proof.