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Judge orders screener to appear today
Silicosis-tester did not turn over his records
By Neal Falgoust Caller-Times
March 3, 2005 - U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack has ordered the owner of a silicosis screening company to appear in her courtroom today to explain why he has not turned over dozens of file cabinets filled with patient records.
Heath Mason, an owner of N&M Inc. in Grand Bay, Ala., was supposed to deliver the records to Jack's court as part of a lawsuit filed by thousands of workers who claim to have been sickened by inhaling silica dust. As of Tuesday, the court had not received all of the documents Mason promised and ordered him to explain why he should not be held in contempt, according to court records.
Reached by phone Wednesday in Grand Bay, Mason said he had not received an order to appear in court today. He said his lawyer handles all of his legal matters.
"I have not received anything," he said.
Asked for his lawyer's name, Mason refused, saying, "I doubt he wants to talk to you, and he'll charge me."
If Mason fails to appear today, he could be held in contempt of court and possibly jailed.
Silicosis is a life-threatening disease that has been associated with an increased risk of lung cancer and some tissue diseases. The disease can be diagnosed through the use of lung X-rays, a physical examination and a review of a patient's exposure to silica dust.
That dust is found in sandblasting, concrete demolition and the production of paint and fiberglass.
Dozens of manufacturing and mining companies are defending themselves against the lawsuits, including 3M Company, Lockheed Martin, Vulcan Materials and U.S. Silica.
Mason's company was responsible for screening more than 6,500 people who are involved in the lawsuit.
Last month, during a three-day inquiry into the methods doctors used to diagnose those patients, Jack asked Mason why he had not turned over all the records subpoenaed by defense attorneys.
Mason said he would "send all my file cabinets, every file I have I'll call a moving company to pick up my file cabinets tomorrow."
Mason has failed to live up to that promise, according to court documents.
Defense attorneys have doggedly attacked the methods used by doctors and screening companies to evaluate the worker's injuries. One of those companies set up shop in the parking lot of a Sizzler restaurant.
Defense attorneys later discovered the X-ray machine and the company were run out of a real estate office.
Mason, a junior college dropout, said he set up his company after educating himself on how to run an X-ray machine and how to take a patient's medical history. He said his job was to work with plaintiff attorney's to find sick people.
"It was trial by fire," he told Jack during the hearings.
Contact Neal Falgoust at 886-4334 or falgoustn@caller.com
Lawyer to release silicosis suit files
Screening firm's methodology under review
By Neal Falgoust Caller-Times
March 4, 2005 - Defense attorneys in a massive silicosis lawsuit said Thursday that they had reached an agreement with the owner of a screening company to obtain nearly 60 file cabinets filled with patient records.
Heath Mason, the owner of N&M Inc. in Pascagoula, Miss., had been ordered to appear in U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack's Corpus Christi courtroom today to explain why he had not handed over the documents. That hearing was canceled late Wednesday after Mason's attorney agreed to the disclosure.
Last month, during a three-day inquiry into the methods doctors used to diagnose patients, Mason said would quickly produce the files when Jack asked him why he had not turned over all the records subpoenaed by defense attorneys.
Mason did not return phone calls on Wednesday, but defense attorney Daniel Mulholland said he trusts that Mason will live up to the agreement.
Mulholland is defending dozens of industry clients in the lawsuit, in which nearly 10,000 workers claimed to be sickened by exposure to silica dust. Mason's company screened more than 6,500 of those workers.
Mulholland said representatives from his Jackson, Miss.-based law firm will travel to N&M's offices to pick up the file cabinets once Jack approves the move. The firm then will spend about six weeks scanning thousands of records before they are returned to N&M.
Mulholland said the documents are necessary because N&M played such a big role in diagnosing patients for the lawsuit, and some of those claims could be fraudulent.
Silicosis is a lung inflammation caused by exposure to silica dust. Crystalline silica, more commonly called quartz, is used in sandblasting, concrete demolition and the production of paint and fiberglass. The disease typically is diagnosed through the use of lung X-rays, a physical examination and a review of a patient's work history.
Dozens of industry groups are defending themselves in the litigation, including 3M Company, Lockheed Martin, Vulcan Materials and U.S. Silica.
Contact Neal Falgoust at 886-4334 or falgoustn@caller.com
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