Rubanick v. Witco Chemical Corp.

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

HANDLER, J.

In this case, the Court must determine the standard governing the admissibility of expert evidence relating to the causation of cancer in toxic-tort litigation. The survivors of two men who had worked at a chemical plant where they had been exposed to a toxic substance, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), claim that their decedents’ fatal colon cancer was caused by that exposure. The Law Division conducted a hearing to determine whether plaintiffs’ expert testimony that PCBs had caused the fatal colon cancer of the victims was admissible.…