New York: Causal Connection Between Rare Cancer and Employment Chemical Established

A New York appellate court affirmed a finding by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that the deceased employee’s ureteral cancer was causally connected to his employment exposure to a chemical, orthotoluidine.  While the chemical is known to cause bladder cancer, there were no studies directly linking it to ureteral cancer.  The appellate court noted that the claimant’s expert acknowledged the lack of studies and explained that ureteral cancer was difficult to study because it is very rare. The expert pointed to scientific literature concluding that the suspected occupational causes of ureteral cancer were similar to the causes established for bladder cancer. After noting that decedent did not smoke or have any other known risk factor for ureteral cancer, the expert related that decedent was definitely exposed to orthotoluidine, ortho-toluidine is a human bladder carcinogen, ureters have the same type of cells as the bladder, ureters are directly connected to the bladder, and urinary carcinogens flow through the ureters to reach the bladder. The court observed that while the employer’s experts disagreed and said a different conclusion by the Board would have been reasonable, substantial evidence nonetheless supported the Board’s determination.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is a leading commentator and expert on the law of workers’ compensation.

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance. Bracketed citations link to lexis.com.

See Manka v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., 2014 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 8455 (Dec. 4, 2014) [2014 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 8455 (Dec. 4, 2014)]

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 128.05 [128.05]

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.

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