A jury in Mason County, W.Va., issued a unanimous verdict last week for welding industry defendants, rejecting claims that injuries to former welder John Belcher were caused by their products. Adkins, et al v. Airco, et al., No. 06-103 (W.Va. Cir. Ct., Mason Cty.)

Apparently jurors deliberated for only a couple hours after an eight-day trial before Circuit Judge David W. Nibert.  Defendants at the trial included Lincoln Electric Company Inc., Hobart Brothers Inc. and The BOC Group Inc. The Circuit Court had entered a gag order before trial to avoid prejudicing potential jurors, so there wasn’t much press on this one.

Defendants have won about 85% of the trials so far in this mass tort. And along with numerous defense verdicts like this one, this litigation has seen the dismissals of thousands of cases. The total number of pending welding fume cases has dropped by more than one half since January 2006. In the MDL in Cleveland, the plaintiffs recently dismissed more than two thirds of the cases they had certified as “ready for trial. ”

The next bellwether trial in the federal MDL in front of  Judge O’Malley is set for September. Plaintiff Cooley, a long time welder from Iowa, alleges manganese neuro-toxicity, which defendants contend is not actually a recognized disease. Both sides have recently filed motions to knock out the other’s expert opinions under the Daubert doctrine.

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