Products Liability Law Reporter

Charles Thornton worked as a lab technician in the Florida biopharmaceutical industry, including at NABI Biopharmaceuticals, from 1976 to approximately 2010. His job involved performing maintenance work on biopharmaceutical equipment and separating plasma from blood using that equipment and tools that contained asbestos. At age 68, he was diagnosed as having terminal mesothelioma.

Thornton and his wife sued GEA Mechanical Equipment USA, Inc., alleging strict liability and negligence. The plaintiffs alleged that Thornton’s mesothelioma resulted from exposure to asbestos-containing separating equipment designed and manufactured by the defendant. Thornton had used the defendant’s products in the intended manner, the plaintiffs asserted, but was unaware of the dangerous properties of asbestos and relied on the defendant’s instructions as to the proper method of handling its products.

The jury awarded approximately $70 million. The award includes $102,000 in past medical expenses; $50 million for Thornton’s pain and suffering; and $20 million for Thornton’s wife for her loss of society.

Citation: Thornton v. GEA Mechanical Equip. US, Inc., No. 17-006018 CA 42 (Fla. Cir. Ct. Miami-Dade Cnty. June 17, 2019).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member Marc Kunen and Jose Becerra, both of Miami.

Plaintiff experts: Murray Finkelstein, pulmonary medicine, Toronto, Ont., Can.; and Richard Kradin, pathology, Boston.