Lawsuits Claim Welding Causes Parkinson's Disease

(Cleveland, Ohio) Last month Larry Elam, 65, of Collinsville, Illinois, was awarded $1 million by a jury in Madison County, Illinois, that determined welding rod manufacturers were responsible for his Parkinson's disease. Elam's lawyers argued that welding rod fumes gave him the disease and the manufacturers did not warn him of the danger. With the verdict, more than 100 similar lawsuits have been filed.

To digress for a moment, readers of Interested-Participant may recall that the judicial district in Madison County, Illinois, is repeatedly listed as the worst Judicial Hellhole in the United States by the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA). Judicial Hellholes are defined as those districts where "it is nearly impossible to receive a fair trial."

With the Madison County Court award giving rise to many additional lawsuits,

A federal panel has ordered federal lawsuits from across the country consolidated in Cleveland before U.S. District Judge Kate O'Malley to simplify legal issues.

One has to seriously wonder what impact the reputation of Madison County had on the decision by the federal panel.

The Elam verdict was specifically against weld rod manufacturers BOC Group, Hobart Brothers and Lincoln Electric who have maintained that there is no conclusive evidence that weld rod fumes lead to Parkinson's disease.