Bad Science Investigators ("BSI") Awards
We’ve all heard of lawsuits based on bad science. These “Best” awards represent some of the worst use of bad science to support bad lawsuits. We want to recognize those who have helped create these examples of just how far bad science (“BS”) can go in the interest of trying to profit from lawsuits.
Best “Film Editing”: Dr. Ray Harron
Any experienced technician can edit a film to tell a good story, but what about an “editor” who turns a film into a whole new story? The Best Film Editing Award goes to Dr. Ray “X-Ray” Harron of West Virginia. He was hired by personal injury lawyers to read x-rays for their asbestos lawsuits – and then he was hired to read the same x-rays for silica lawsuits. In a result that was surprising to the scientific community and a federal judge, Dr. Harron improbably diagnosed the same people as being sick from both conditions! Dr. Harron may not be able to accept his award, however. After U.S. District Judge Janis Jack questioned his diagnoses of thousands of patients as having two diseases, he sought a lawyer for himself and abruptly closed his medical practice that was dedicated exclusively to reading x-rays. (“Reading X-Rays in Asbestos Suits Enriched Doctor” by Jonathan Glater, New York Times, 11/29/05)
Best Use of Special Effects: Dr. Paul Nausieda
Special effects add visual “zing” and can help make up for a weak plot, just ask Dr. Paul Nausieda and the personal injury lawyers who relied upon his medical creativity to bolster their cases against welding rod manufacturers. While on the payroll of personal injury lawyers, Dr. Nausieda conducted mass screenings of welders claiming symptoms ranging from headaches to tremors; his diagnoses were based on a form completed by the claimant and a few minutes of observation by Dr. Nausieda or one of his interns, some of whom were not even trained in neurology. To add zing to the lawsuits against the welding rod producers, Nausieda specifically blamed manganese fumes emitted during welding for causing a Parkinson’s and other neurological disorders. (“Twitch and Shout” by Mary Ellen Egan, Forbes Magazine, 9 Jan 2006), (“Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Come Under Fire for Claim Veracity” Wall Street Journal, 12/8/05).
Best Actor in a Science Fiction Production: Dr. Gary Ordog
Not everyone can sell the story of killer mold, but Dr. Mold can. The top player in a plot about expanding lawsuits over mold and mycotoxins, Dr. Gary Ordog has performed as personal injury lawyers’ medical expert on hundreds of witness stands. While it is generally accepted that mold causes asthma and sinusitis, Dr. Ordog has gone where no expert witness has gone before, by using science fiction to claim that mold causes cancer, memory loss, autoimmune disorders and cirrhosis of the liver. The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and the American College of Medical Toxicology see no evidence for these claims. In fact, there are no reliable tests to show that a person has been exposed to a specific mold or mycotoxin, how long the exposure lasted or how much was absorbed (“Dr. Mold” by Daniel Fisher, Forbes Magazine, 4/11/05).
Best Director: Dr. Barry Levy
Only a truly great director can manage a production crew capable of making 1,239 diagnoses of silicosis in only 72 hours time! How did Dr. Levy do it? He gathered a team of doctors so he could make high-speed diagnoses without taking medical histories or performing x-rays or physical examinations on any of his “patients.” Federal Judge Jack determined that many of the silicosis claims were manufactured, and that Dr. Levy “had an agenda: diagnose silicosis and nothing else.” (“Doctor of the Year” Wall Street Journal, 12/8/05)
Best Performance by a Guest Star: Dr. Maria Araneta
A special guest star can boost the value of a performance, and personal injury lawyer Mark Lanier traveled a long way to track down just the “guest star” he needed to help him win a case worth millions. Lanier hired a private investigator to travel almost halfway around the world to track down an expert witness who he felt would agree with him in a trial against the maker of Vioxx. Expressing confidence in his “directing” skills, Lanier was quoted as saying he would “browbeat” former coroner Dr. Maria Araneta from the United Arab Emirates into agreeing with his novel legal theory. Lanier’s guest star became an award-wining supporting actress, helping him win a $253.5 million verdict. (“Vioxx verdict raising profile of Texas lawyer” by Alex Berenson, New York Times, 8/22/05; “Coroner Helps Plaintiff” Associated Press, 7/28/05).
Best Short –Live Action Arthur Miller
In hopes of taking a short ride to a big payday, Mississippi electrician Arthur Miller, filed a $20 million lawsuit against Dollywood theme park in Tennessee claiming neurological damage from his ride on a child’s roller coaster.,. Miller claimed his ride caused nausea and vertigo that, nearly five years later, is causing strokes and has stolen his sensory perception and motor skills. Seems that someone is being taken for a ride in this case. (“Man Sues Dollywood for $20M, Says Roller Coaster Caused Brain Damage” by Emanuella Grinberg, CourtTV Online, 8/18/05).
Best Original Script: Jerry Colatis
Personal injury lawsuits sometimes tell stories that are doozies, but a “death by flying shrimp” tale gets the nod for originality. The family of Jerry Colaitis, 47, of Mineola, NY sought $10 million from the Benihana Japanese steakhouse chain, claiming Colaitis’s died from a neck injury suffered while ducking a piece of tossed shrimp at the restaurant. Colaitis reportedly experienced numbness in his arm, followed by fever and death in the months after his meal. The jury “tossed” the family’s claim (“Jury rejects claim in tossed-shrimp case” Associated Press, 2/9/06).
Best Song and Dance: John Kiel Patterson
In a variation of the concept of singing for your supper, John Kiel Patterson of Louisiana is trying a “sue before you suffer” lawsuit against Apple Computer. Patterson’s song and dance is a claim that the iPod music player can cause hearing loss, although he admits he does not know if the iPod has damaged his hearing. Since Patterson files lawsuits over potentially dangerous products, anyone actually giving supper to Patterson would be well advised not to give him a sharp knife (“Man Sues Apple Over Potential Hearing Loss” By Dan Goodin, Associated Press, 2/1/06).
Best “Supporting Actress”: Dr. Linda Crouse
A really good supporting cast knows how to take direction and make those around them shine. When personal injury lawyers hired Dr. Linda Crouse to screen echocardiograms to find plaintiffs for fen-phen diet drug lawsuits, they found just such a person. Dr. Crouse made sure she was acting according to the personal injury lawyers’ script by allowing her lead sonographer and other staffers to be trained by law firm employees on how to interpret the echocardiograms. In fact, personal injury lawyer employees were “on the set” to monitor most of Dr. Crouse’s screenings. Unfortunately for Crouse and the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Judge Harvey Bartle III’s reviews were not kind. Judge Bartle threw out many claims as “medically unreasonable,” noting that Crouse found heart valve damage in 60 percent to 70 percent of the lawyers’ clients, compared to the five percent rate she had found in a blind clinical study in 1998. (“Bogus Claims Discovered in Fen-Phen Class Action” by Shannon Duffy, The Legal Intelligencer, 11/19/02).
