Benjamin Pimentel, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
URL: sfgate.com/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/11/26/BUGBF3AEE61.DTL
The two IBM ex-workers who accused the company of causing them to develop cancers suffered from systemic chemical poisoning, according to a medical expert who testified at the toxics trial Tuesday.
Dr. Daniel Teitelbaum, an expert in toxicology and occupational medicine, said that based on the medical records of the two plaintiffs, Alida Hernandez and Jim Moore, he believed that their years of exposure to toxic solvents caused serious health problems.
Hernandez and Moore worked many years at IBM's former disk drive factory in San Jose, where they said they worked with toxic chemicals such as acetone, isopropyl alcohol and trichloroethylene.
At issue in the trial is whether Hernandez and Moore became sick because of their work at that factory and whether the company knew of the illnesses but did not disclose the connection to the plaintiffs.
Hernandez and Moore are asking for unspecified damages.
Under questioning in a Santa Clara courtroom by the plaintiffs' attorney, Richard Alexander, Teitelbaum cited a March 1967 entry in Moore's IBM medical record that said he suffered from "profuse nasal discharge" after being exposed to solvents.
Later entries in Moore's IBM medical record showed that he continued to complain of nasal problems.
Teitelbaum said that pointed to possible systemic chemical poisoning due to long exposure to solvents. "It was an established fact in his medical record that he had this problem," he said.
He said that in his opinion, the chronic poisoning also affected Moore's other organs.
In Hernandez's case, Teitelbaum said that years of abnormal liver tests also indicated that she suffered from systemic chemical poisoning, which was probably caused by her daily exposure to toxic chemicals.
"We have a period of 10 years where it (her liver) was abnormal," he said.
"Clearly, it was systemic chronic poisoning."
Teitelbaum was the first expert witness to testify in the 3-week-old trial.
Under cross-examination by IBM attorney Robert Weber, Teitelbaum acknowledged that he has served as a plaintiffs' consultant and witness at other toxic tort cases for which he gets paid a fee of $6,500 per day.
He also said he based his conclusions mainly on the two plaintiffs' records and had not spoken with their personal physicians.
Referring to Hernandez's earlier liver problems, Weber also noted that such a condition might be caused by many factors not related to the workplace, such as drinking alcohol or obesity.
Referring to Hernandez's weight, which at one point exceeded 200 pounds, Weber said, "Ms. Hernandez was a substantially larger woman at that time."
Teitelbaum said that other factors might be at play, but added that he still would have put Hernandez's daily exposure to toxic chemicals at the top of his list of possible causes.
The trial resumes on Monday.
E-mail Benjamin Pimentel at bpimentel@sfchronicle.com.
©2003 San Francisco Chronicle
