Mauro v. Raymark Industries, Inc.

Mauro v. Raymark Industries, Inc. case brief summary
561 A.2d 257 (1989)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Plaintiff appealed the order of the Superior Court, Appellate Division (New Jersey), affirming the trial court's rejection of plaintiff's enhanced risk of cancer claim in a case involving personal injury claims against private-entity defendants asserted by plaintiff with present injuries attributed to asbestos exposure.

CASE FACTS
Plaintiff couple sued several manufacturers of asbestos products based on injuries plaintiff husband allegedly sustained as a result of inhalation of asbestos fibers in course of plaintiff husband's employment. Plaintiff husband sustained present injuries as a result of asbestos inhalation. Plaintiff couple sought damages on claim that plaintiff husband faced an increased risk of cancer due to the asbestos exposure.

DISCUSSION

• The court held that plaintiff couple's enhanced-risk claim was properly withheld from the jury in the absence of evidence establishing the future occurrence of cancer as a reasonable medical probability. 
• The court also affirmed the trial court's exclusion of statistical evidence correlating asbestos disease with cancer because that evidence had not been furnished to defendants during discovery.

CONCLUSION
The court affirmed, holding that the prospective cancer component of plaintiff's enhanced risk claim was properly withheld from the jury in the absence of evidence establishing the future occurrence of cancer as a reasonable medical probability.

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