## Facts

- Plaintiffs (individual cancer sufferers and related claimants) sued companies involved in uranium mining and milling in and around Karnes County, Texas, alleging radiation-related injuries.
- Uranium ore was mined and processed into “yellowcake” at area mills; milling waste (tailings) was stored in piles/ponds later capped and closed.
- Plaintiffs alleged contamination from hauling and milling practices, including ore transported in uncovered trucks and radioactive dust resuspended from roads and facilities.
- Plaintiffs claimed exposure pathways included inhalation/ingestion of radioactive particulates, contaminated food and water, and gamma radiation from haul roads and tailings.
- Plaintiffs alleged many cancer types and asserted defendants’ uranium operations caused or substantially contributed to each plaintiff’s cancer.
- The suit proceeded as a public liability action under the Price–Anderson Act, applying Texas substantive causation standards where not inconsistent with federal law.
- Plaintiffs relied on Dr. Malin Dollinger as their only expert offering opinions on specific causation for individual plaintiffs.
- Defendants moved to exclude Dollinger under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert and, if excluded, sought summary judgment for failure of proof on specific causation.

## Issues

1. Whether Dr. Dollinger’s specific-causation opinions were reliable and relevant under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert.
2. If Dollinger’s testimony was excluded, whether plaintiffs had sufficient admissible evidence of specific causation to survive summary judgment under Texas law as incorporated through the Price–Anderson Act.

## Decision

- The court excluded Dr. Dollinger’s specific-causation testimony under Rule 702/Daubert.
- The court held Dollinger’s methodology lacked reliability because it assumed exposure without individualized dose evidence, applied a generalized “any dose above background” causation theory, and failed to conduct a reliable differential etiology addressing alternative causes.
- The court found plaintiffs’ epidemiological support insufficiently tied to the alleged exposure circumstances and cancer outcomes to meet Texas causation requirements in this context.
- Because Dollinger was plaintiffs’ sole specific-causation expert, the exclusion left plaintiffs without admissible evidence that defendants’ conduct was a substantial factor in causing each plaintiff’s cancer.
- The court granted summary judgment for defendants and dismissed the action with prejudice; remaining motions were denied as moot.

## Legal Principles

- In a Price–Anderson public liability action, state substantive tort law governs liability and causation unless inconsistent with federal requirements.
- Under Texas causation standards in toxic-tort cases, plaintiffs generally must prove both general causation (capability of causing disease) and specific causation (caused disease in the individual plaintiff) by a preponderance of the evidence, including that defendant’s conduct was a substantial factor and a but-for cause.
- Under Rule 702 and Daubert, trial courts must exclude expert opinions that are not grounded in a reliable methodology and that do not fit the facts of the case.
- Specific-causation opinions in exposure cases typically require more than generalized carcinogenicity evidence; they require a scientifically reliable link between the plaintiff’s exposure (including dose, timing, and pathway) and the plaintiff’s disease.
- A differential etiology offered as proof of specific causation must meaningfully consider and rule out plausible alternative causes rather than assume exposure and attribute causation to the defendant’s substance across all plaintiffs.

## Conclusion

The court excluded plaintiffs’ only specific-causation expert for methodological unreliability and, without admissible evidence tying defendants’ uranium-related activities to each plaintiff’s cancer, granted summary judgment and dismissed the case with prejudice.


Cano v. Everest Minerals Corp., 362 F. Supp. 2d 814 (W.D. Tex. 2005)