Teflon Suit Seeks to Combine Complaints
AP - May 9, 2006
By DAVID PITT
DES MOINES, Iowa - A lawsuit representing millions of owners of Teflon coated cookware was filed in U.S. District Court, seeking to combine complaints from 16 states into one master case.
It asks the court to require DuPont to create a fund for independent research into whether Teflon is harmful; to replace all existing Teflon coated cookware products or pay owners equivalent compensation; to stop making, selling and distributing Teflon coated products; and to provide a warning label or other disclosure about potential harmful effects from using Teflon.
PFOA has been determined by the Science Advisory Board for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to likely be a cancer-causing agent in humans.
On May 17, 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a subpoena to DuPont requesting documents about PFOA and related compounds, suggesting that the government is considering a criminal case.
DuPont attorney Adam Hoeflich of Chicago said at an April 20 court hearing that Teflon has a 40-year history of safe use and no studies exist that show the material can become toxic.
Hoeflich did not immediately return a telephone message Tuesday.
DuPont intends to fight class-action certification, Hoeflick has said.
SOURCE:
http://www.heraldnewsdaily.com/stories/ ... 86684.html