The lawsuits allege exposure to ethylene oxide emissions from Sterigenics' Willowbrook facility caused cancers and other serious injury or death.

CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES, May 14, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Within the last week, six additional personal injury lawsuits were filed by the law firms of Dunn Harrington, LLC, and Passen & Powell against Sterigenics, a medical device sterilization company that operated in Willowbrook, Illinois, alleging that the release of ethylene oxide emissions has led to severe health impacts, including various cancers, neurological ailments, respiratory issues, and death. One of the recently filed lawsuits is a wrongful death lawsuit, filed on behalf of a beloved Burr Ridge police officer who worked near the Sterigenics facilities for over a decade.

These lawsuits are expected to be consolidated with Tamm v. Sterigenics U.S. LLC et al., Cook County Case No. 2023 L 5701, along with the 22 previously filed lawsuits.

On September 19, 2022, a Cook County jury awarded Plaintiff and cancer-survivor Susan Kamuda a verdict of $363 million, which included $38 million in compensatory damages and $325 million in punitive damages. Following this verdict, in 2023, Sterigenics paid $408 million to settle more than 870 ethylene oxide exposure cases pending in Illinois.

Public outcry and litigation prompted governmental action and oversight. In November of 2023, a Health Consultation released by the Center for Disease Control asserted that individuals within a one-mile radius of the Sterigenics facilities in Willowbrook face an increased lifetime risk of cancer. More recently in March 2024, as part of President Biden’s “Cancer Moonshot,” the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) passed regulation that would require businesses emitting ethylene oxide to reduce their emissions by 90% over the course of three years.

Attorney for the plaintiffs, Jordan Powell, Partner at Passen & Powell, remarked:

The EPA’s new regulations reducing ethylene oxide emissions will protect future generations, but this is too late for those who have already been exposed to ethylene oxide, a mutagenic, genotoxic, carcinogenic, cancer-causing, and neurotoxic gas. The ongoing onslaught of new diagnoses after years, and in some cases, decades, of exposure to ethylene oxide, should come as no surprise to the Defendants. We will continue to seek justice for this community and to hold Sterigenics accountable for the impacts of these harmful emissions.

Impacted individuals who lived or worked near the Sterigenics facilities are encouraged to contact the law firms of Dunn Harrington, LLC (872) 201-3125 or Passen & Powell (312) 527-4500.

Jordan Powell
Passen & Powell
+1 312-527-4500
jpowell@passenpowell.com

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