$20M Verdict in Georgia Ethylene Oxide Cancer Trial

A Gwinnett County jury has awarded $20 million in compensatory damages to Gary Walker, a retired truck driver who claimed that his non-Hodgkin lymphoma was caused by prolonged exposure to ethylene oxide gas emitted from C.R. Bard’s sterilization facility in Covington, Georgia. Walker lived in the community beginning in 1991 and frequently visited the plant as part of his delivery route. After his retirement in 1999, he continued to live approximately a mile and a half from the facility, allegedly prolonging his exposure to the carcinogenic gas.

Ethylene oxide, a colorless and flammable gas, is commonly used to sterilize medical equipment. However, it has been classified as a human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. At trial, Walker’s attorneys presented evidence that the sterilization process at the Bard plant emitted uncontained levels of the gas into the surrounding community, including warnings the company received as far back as the 1980s.

The Allegations

Walker’s legal team argued that C.R. Bard acted negligently and created a public nuisance by failing to implement available emissions control systems. In closing arguments, attorney Lindsay Forlines of Chance Forlines Carter & King PC highlighted that Bard received numerous warnings over the years, including from its chemical supplier, Union Carbide. “There were devices for control available, and Bard refused to employ them, refused to try them, and let decades pass while ethylene oxide went into the air,” Forlines told the jury.

The jury was shown internal documentation from 1985 in which Georgia’s environmental regulators had discussed emissions controls with Bard. According to that record, Bard stated at the time that it "does not want to control its emissions." This historical evidence was critical in establishing a pattern of inaction that the plaintiffs said demonstrated disregard for public health and safety.

The Defense

C.R. Bard, now a subsidiary of Becton Dickinson, denied that Walker’s illness was connected to its facility. The company argued that the plaintiff’s cancer was “randomly occurring” and not medically attributable to ethylene oxide exposure. In closing arguments, defense attorney Eric Rumanek of Troutman Pepper Locke LLP emphasized that no physician had directly linked Walker’s cancer to the gas. “There was not a single doctor who had told him that ethylene oxide had anything to do with his cancer,” Rumanek told the jury. He further asserted that Walker’s exposure levels were too low to cause his condition.

Despite these arguments, the jury found Bard liable on both negligence and public nuisance grounds and indicated that punitive damages were warranted.

The Trial and What’s Next

The jury’s decision concluded the first phase of the bifurcated trial, which focused on compensatory damages and liability. With the jury also finding that punitive damages "should be awarded," Gwinnett County State Court Judge Emily Brantley directed them to return for the punitive damages phase on the following Monday.

Walker’s case is one of many currently pending in Georgia over emissions of ethylene oxide. Bard and other sterilization companies, including Sterigenics, have faced mounting scrutiny and legal action over their handling of the gas. While Sterigenics settled 80 lawsuits in 2023, it and others still face a significant volume of claims.

The outcome of Walker’s case could set a tone for the resolution of hundreds of similar lawsuits pending across the state. A previous case in Colorado involving Terumo BCT saw the jury side with the defense, but that verdict is currently on appeal. The Georgia verdict may offer plaintiffs renewed confidence in pressing their claims forward.

Law Firms Involved

Gary Walker is represented by Buck Daniel of Rueb Stoller Daniel and Lindsay A. Forlines of Chance Forlines Carter & King PC.

C.R. Bard is represented by Eric Rumanek of Troutman Pepper Locke LLP.

Case Information: Walker v. Becton Dickinson et al., Case No. 21-C-08201-S1, in the State Court of Gwinnett County, Georgia.