Asbestos

In response to “Makers of Hazardous Products Get Legal Shield,” Part A, May 31:

Either the California Supreme Court justices or the attorney for the plaintiff in this case did not do their homework, because it has been known since at least the late 1920s--by manufacturers and their medical consultants--that asbestos can cause pulmonary fibrosis and cancer. This was common knowledge among clinicians when I was an intern in 1952.

Asbestos has been on trial in hundreds of courtrooms for over 20 years and the statement by California Supreme Court Justice Edward A. Panelli that “how can one warn of something that is unknowable” is either disingenuous or reflects appalling judicial ignorance.

Asbestos kills--this has been known by members of the medical profession and the prosecutors of asbestos for approximately 70 years. The victims of this toxic mineral deserve better treatment than Carl Anderson received from the California Supreme Court.

MARVIN L. TYAN, MD, Los Angeles