Re: MIT, Quaker Oats Settle Radiation Lawsuit

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@ix.netcom.com>]

Eric Denison stated the following:

> It's the prevalent attitude these days.  Companies, universities, and
> high-profile individuals will settle suits out of court without officially
> admitting that they were wrong because it's cheaper than going to court.
> Considering the trend for juries to award astronomical sums for relatively
> minor "injuries," they're probably right.  What they don't seem to realize
> is that paying off the plaintifs still makes them look guilty.  It also
> feeds the trend toward suing over anything and everything.

It is unfortunate that when a radiation related case is settled out 
of court, it is generally NOT the end of the story. Take the Tang 
case for example. This involved a female NRC inspector who was suing 
Southern California Edison for radiation caused cancer. The case 
resulted in a hung jury, and instead of going forward with a new 
trial, the company settled. The result, NUMEROUS other cases have 
been now filed. These cases will take up a lot of time and effort on 
the part of S. Cal. Edison. The costs associated are staggering. This 
was the first time a nuclear utility has settled with a plaintiff. It 
is my opinion that this settlement was a cave in, probably based on 
good intentions to save the company many more millions, but in the 
end, will cost them much more, plus, the stigma of being the first to 
settle a radiation case that for all practical purposes, was not 
substantiated in the first place.

There are members here who know this case well, and I will leave any 
further discussion regarding this case to them, if they so chose.

Bottom line, settling doesn't always mitigate $$$ or public 
"exposure."

------------------
Sandy Perle
Technical Director
ICN Dosimetry Division
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Office: (800) 548-5100 x2306 
Fax:    (714) 668-3111
  
sandyfl@ix.netcom.com
sperle@icnpharm.com

ICN Dosimetry Website:
http://www.dosimetry.com

Personal Homepage:
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