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Lawsuit blames welding for illness BY BRIAN BRUEGGEMANN Posted on Mon, Oct. 13, 2003 EDWARDSVILLE - Neurologist says 'a lot of data' backs claim A type of lawsuit that's never resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff is getting a second chance in Madison County. A Madison County jury is hearing the case of a 64-year-old Collinsville man who claims he developed a Parkinson's-type disease at an early age because of welding rods. In June, another jury heard the case of plaintiff Larry Elam, but a mistrial was declared because jurors were unable to reach a verdict after four days of deliberation. Testimony in the retrial began last week. Witnesses have included Dr. Paul Nausieda, a neurologist from Milwaukee who treats patients suffering from Parkinson's and manganism, a similar disease that affects movement. Nausieda, who has conducted research on the cause of the diseases, said he's noticed that many of his young patients worked as welders or around welders. "A lot of our young patients showed up on this list, who had very severe Parkinson's," Nausieda said. "It raised a strong clinical suspicion." Nausieda said he's also been participating in a screening project involving welders in the South, and of the roughly 20,000 welders studied, about 2,500 have a Parkinson's-type disease. Attorneys for Elam claim he developed a Parkinson's-type disease at an early age because the welding process produces fumes of manganese, a neurotoxin. Elam worked around welders and sometimes did welding while he was employed at Union Electric in Missouri for 29 years. He began having tremors and walking with a shuffle in the mid-1990s at age 57. Elam is suing Lincoln Electric, Hobart Brothers and BOC Group, companies that provided welding rods for Union Electric. The trial is expected to take a couple of weeks. Peter Bell, an attorney representing the defendants, asked Nausieda about his pay for testifying and working on the screening project. Nausieda said he was being paid $10,000 to testify and is paid $10,000 for every day he works on the screening project -- about $270,000 so far. The screening project is being conducted by a group of law firms, Nausieda said. Bell asked Nausieda if there are any published studies -- ones reviewed by peers in the medical community -- confirming a link between welding and an increased risk of Parkinson's. Nausieda said there is no such study, but added: "There's a lot of data floating around that certainly suggests that's true." The defendants claim there is no confirmed link. A few similar cases have gone to trial in the United States, but none has ended in a verdict in favor of the plaintiff. Elam's attorneys said the jury in the previous Madison County trial had voted 8-4 in favor of the plaintiff. Allen D. Vaughan, one of Elam's attorneys, said previous jurors told him they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict, but they had "unanimously agreed on the failure of the welding industry to investigate the adverse health effects of welding fumes." Nausieda said Parkinson's-type diseases first began appearing in the 1800s. The most common theory, Nausieda said, is that Parkinson's is "some byproduct of the Industrial Revolution." In the previous trial, Elam's attorneys asked the jury to award him $6.4 million. SOURCE: The Belleville News-Democrat http://www.belleville.com/mld/newsdemocrat/6999895.htm * * * Hasn't anyone else noticed the figures given under oath? "One doctor who has worked on the study for a fee of $10,000 per day testified that of 20,000 welders screened so far, about 2,500 have a Parkinson's-type disease" "Dr. Paul Nausieda, a neurologist from Milwaukee, testified in Elam's trial about his participation in a study of welders in three Gulf Coast states. Nausieda said about 2,500 of the roughly 20,000 welders screened so far have Parkinson's or a form of the disease" "of the roughly 20,000 welders studied, about 2,500 have a Parkinson's-type disease" is my math correct?? that would be ONE in every EIGHT !! or... 12 1/2 % or... TWENTY - FIVE Parkinson's Patients in every TWO HUNDRED welders !! extrapolating further... One million welders in the US would equate to 125,000 welding fumes Parkie patients who could all potentially sue for $1,000,000 US each... 125,000 X 1,000,000 = $125,000,000,000.00 US Small wonder the welding rod manuf. wishes to appeal... cheers ... murray Reference: http://neuro-mancer.mgh.harvard.edu/ubb/Forum71/HTML/009080.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn