Robert Johnston Speaks on Ethylene Oxide Emissions Class Actions
event | March 20, 2025
On March 20, 2025, Hollingsworth LLP partner Robert E. Johnston joined a panel of experts and other attorneys on the Strafford webinar, “Ethylene Oxide Emissions Class Actions: Challenging or Defending Risk Assessment Testing Methodologies.”
The panel offered guidance on how to evaluate risk assessment testing and methodologies in ethylene oxide (EtO) class actions seeking medical monitoring. Among other things, they reviewed the most recent challenge to the EPA’s EtO regulations, why a scientific understanding of exposure is critical to understanding the risk, and under which policies defendants might find insurance coverage for EtO claims.
Robert led the firm’s trial team that obtained the first defense verdict in a case alleging that exposure to ethylene oxide released from a commercial medical device sterilization facility caused cancer. The unanimous verdict followed a month-long trial in state court in Cook County, Illinois, and came on the heels of a substantial plaintiff’s verdict only weeks prior in the same court.
The webinar was CLE-accredited and a recorded version is available.