Re: Tooth fairy inspired law suit

["Otto G. Raabe" <ograabe@UCDAVIS.EDU>]

At 09:48 AM 5/17/03 -0600, Doty, Patrick wrote:

Below is a link to a story posted today on the TCPalm Web site, "Suit

>alleges cancer link to nuclear plant".  

HERE IS THE WHOLE ARTICLE FROM THE "Fort Pierce Tribune" newspaper WITH THE

AUTHOR'S E-MAIL ADDRESS!



Suit alleges cancer link to nuclear plant



Boy, 13, died of the disease in 2001 and the family blames Florida Power &

Light (FPL)



By Mark Pollio staff writer

May 16, 2003



ST. LUCIE COUNTY -- The family of a 13-year-old cancer victim filed a

federal lawsuit last week against Florida Power & Light Co., claiming

nuclear power plant emissions contributed to their child's cancer.



Tish Blake and John Lowe, parents of Ashton Lowe, filed the suit May 9.

Ashton Lowe, of Port St. Lucie, died May 21, 2001, from brain cancer.



FPL operates a nuclear power plant on South Hutchinson Island in St. Lucie

County, a few miles from where Ashton Lowe lived. His parents contend that

the power plant's emissions played a part in the boy's painful death.



His parents are seeking more than $1 million in damages, according to the

lawsuit.



"The children deserve an answer," Nancy LaVista, a West Palm Beach attorney

representing the Lowe family, said Thursday. "It is going to be interesting

to see where this goes. If we are wrong, we are wrong."



In a similar lawsuit against the utility, LaVista represents Zachary

Finestone, a 9-year-old Jensen Beach boy who suffers from brain cancer.



The two are among more than 30 children in St. Lucie County diagnosed with

a rare brain cancer in the past decade, according to St. Lucie County

Department of Health statistics.



State and local health officials have been searching for a cause of the

cancer for more than a decade. More than 400 sources, including the nuclear

power plant, have been tested as potential causes, but health officials

have not found a cause.



Studies of teeth from both children showed high levels of Strontium-90, a

byproduct of nuclear fission power plants, according to the lawsuits. The

suits claim state health officials never tested for Strontium-90 in

children when they first investigated the cancer cluster.



FPL spokeswoman Rachel Scott said company attorneys were not aware a new

lawsuit had been filed, so she could not comment on the case. Officials

from the Nuclear Energy Institute have said there is no link between

nuclear power plants and cancer.



LaVista said she is in talks with several other families from St. Lucie

County whose children have been diagnosed with cancer. But she does not

expect the cases to become a class-action lawsuit.



She said she would request different damages in each case, depending on the

cost of medical treatment for each child.



- mark.pollio@scripps.coms

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