Court Opinion

ID: 9748447
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 16:01:59.123505+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:28.946578
License: Public Domain

STEVE McKEITHEN, Chief Justice,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur in the majority’s opinion affirming the judgment as to Texaco. I respectfully dissent to the reversal of the judgment that pertains to Goodyear.
Goodyear’s motion for summary judgment asserted there was no evidence of duty, breach, or proximate cause. On appeal, Goodyear asserts that no evidence supports Pink’s claim that workplace exposure to benzene caused Veryl Pink’s terminal cancer. I agree. Pink argues, and the majority agrees, that Dr. Kanojia’s affidavit presents more than a scintilla of evidence that Veryl Pink’s cancer was caused by workplace exposure to benzene. In his affidavit, Dr. Kanojia explains his opinion and its basis, as follows:
I was Veryl Pink’s treating oncologist. Mr. Pink was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma, which was confirmed by biopsy. The ultimate cause of Mr. Pink’s death was the progression of the disease.
Based upon reasonable medical probability it is my opinion that the cause of Mr. Pink’s renal cell carcinoma was exposure to chemicals, most likely benzene. In rendering this opinion I have reviewed Mr. Pink’s medical records, the deposition testimony of Mr. Pink and three of his co-workers, the deposition of Dr. Radelt, and scientific literature.
“Bare, baseless opinions will not support a judgment even if there is no objection to their admission in evidence.” City of San Antonio v. Pollock, 284 S.W.3d 809, 816 (Tex.2009). A conclusory statement by an expert cannot be considered probative evidence “if no basis for the opinion is offered, or the basis offered provides no support[J” Id. at 818. Kanojia’s affidavit lacks three preliminary assessments that are necessary to establish that exposure to benzene caused renal cell carcinoma in Ve-ryl Pink: (1) an analysis of whether renal cell carcinoma “can be related to chemical exposure by a biologically plausible theory[;]” (2) an examination of whether Veryl Pink was exposed to benzene “in a manner that can lead to absorption into the body[;]” and (3) an opinion as to whether the dose to which Veryl Pink was exposed is sufficient to cause renal cell carcinoma. See Borg-Warner Corp. v. Flores, 232 S.W.3d 765, 771 (Tex.2007). The majority correctly points out that Kanojia’s affidavit neither discloses what scientific literature was consulted nor identifies what the literature states. This amounts to no evidence regarding causation. Although the basis for Dr. Kanojia’s opinion that Veryl Pink died from renal cell carcinoma is evident from the affidavit, the same cannot be said for Dr. Kanojia’s opinion that benzene exposure caused Veryl Pink’s renal cell carcinoma. Benzene exposure may or may not be a known cause of renal cell carcinoma, but Dr. Kanojia’s affidavit neither states that benzene exposure is a known cause of renal cell carcinoma nor explains how Dr. Kanojia’s training and experience enable him to express an opinion regarding whether benzene causes renal cell carcinoma. Because the affidavit amounts to no *304evidence, no Robinson hearing was required.
The summary judgment evidence includes the deposition testimony of Hamilton Cooper. Cooper testified that in the late 1960s and early 1970s, workers at the Goodyear facility washed their hands in benzene. He did not wear a respirator when he washed his hands in benzene. Cooper testified that he saw Veryl Pink wash his hands in benzene, but Cooper did not indicate whether that observation was a single incident or a common occurrence. The summary judgment record contains no evidence concerning the long-term effect of washing one’s hands in benzene either once or over a period of time. There is summary judgment evidence that Veryl Pink received direct exposure to benzene on at least one occasion, and it may be inferred that he could have been exposed to benzene to some extent throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, but the summary judgment record does not supply evidence regarding the effect of exposure to benzene on one’s health.
This case presents a much more fundamental analytical gap than the deficiency found in Borg-Warner. See Borg-Warner, 232 S.W.3d at 771-72. In that case, the plaintiffs expert identified a treatise that discussed the asbestos-related risks to brake mechanics and testified that a 1968 article explained that respirable fibers remain after the braking process so that brake mechanics can be exposed to them. Id. at 767. The evidence was insufficient because there was “no evidence of the approximate quantum of Borg-Warner fibers to which Flores was exposed, and whether this sufficiently contributed to the aggregate dose of asbestos Flores inhaled, such that it could be considered a substantial factor in causing his asbestosis.” Id. at 772. Here, Dr. Kanojia provides no information relating kidney cancer to benzene, either as a dose-related disease caused by benzene exposure or through some disease-causing mechanism that is unrelated to dose. The only information Dr. Kanojia provides regarding why in his opinion the cause of Veryl Pink’s renal cell carcinoma was “exposure to chemicals, most likely benzene” is his review of “Mr. Pink’s medical records, the deposition testimony of Mr. Pink and three of his coworkers, the deposition of Dr. Radelt, and scientific literature.” In the absence of any explanation of how the records, testimony, and literature supported his opinion on medical causation, Dr. Kanojia’s affidavit is mere ipse dixit of a credentialed witness. See Pollock, 284 S.W.3d at 816. Pink not only provided no quantitative proof that Veryl Pink experienced benzene exposure sufficient to cause his disease, Pink provided no evidence that any quantity of benzene exposure will cause renal cell carcinoma.
The summary judgment evidence does not establish a fact issue regarding whether Veryl Pink’s exposure to benzene while working at the Goodyear plant was a substantial factor in the development of the renal cell carcinoma that led to his death. Because Pink failed to produce any evidence sufficient to raise a fact issue on at least one element of each of Pink’s claims against Goodyear, the trial court did not err in granting Goodyear’s motion for summary judgment. I would affirm the judgment as to Goodyear.