Opinion ID: 556426
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence Submitted in Paoli

Text: 13 In order to demonstrate that their personal injuries were attributed to their exposure to the PCBs in the Paoli railyard, the Paoli plaintiffs introduced, in addition to Shubin, a total of eight expert witnesses: Herbert Allen, Ph.D., a chemist; Deborah Barsotti, Ph.D., a toxicologist; Benjamin Calesnick, M.D., a pharmacologist; G. John DiGregorio, Ph.D., M.D., a clinical pharmacologist; William J. Nicholson, Ph.D., a physicist; Ian C.T. Nisbet, Ph.D., the president of a scientific consulting firm; Robert K. Simon, Ph.D., an industrial hygienist, toxicologist, and forensic analytic chemist; and Arthur Zahalsky, Ph.D., an immunologist. All experts had either an accredited Ph.D. or M.D., an established institutional affiliation, and scholarly expertise. 14 Shubin's testimony alone was used for three plaintiffs. Shubin's conclusion that plaintiffs' illnesses and conditions that he had diagnosed were caused by their exposure to PCBs was based upon a number of different sources: his physical examination of the plaintiffs, their medical records and laboratory test results, numerous published studies and reports, as well as information from the Environmental Protection Agency stating that PCB-contaminated soil had been removed from the residence of one of the plaintiffs. 15 The other eight experts offered a wide range of testimony on the nature and extent of PCB exposure on plaintiffs in addition to the effect that such exposure may have on different injuries and ailments. The district court focused primarily on three sources which plaintiffs' experts used to support their testimony: 1) animal studies presumably showing the harmful effects of PCB exposure, 2) studies using data from the Yusho and Yu Cheng incidents in Japan and Taiwan, 3 and 3) experts' own opinions and research. We note the extent to which any particular test or testimony becomes relevant in our discussion of this case.