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SEATTLE–( BUSINESS WIRE )–Seattle law firm Bergman Draper Oslund has filed a petition with the King County Superior Court, asking the Court to amend its standing order requiring autopsies in all asbestos cases where the plaintiff dies during the pendency of the lawsuit and does not have religious objections to the procedure. The petition seeks to require King County Superior Court to conform to Washington law prohibiting autopsies without consent of the next of kin and prevent unconstitutional judicial scrutiny of litigants’ religious and ethical beliefs and disparate treatment of plaintiffs based on those beliefs. In the past, autopsies were required to determine if asbestos exposure resulted in mesothelioma, a rare, terminal lung cancer. Today, autopsies are no longer needed for a diagnosis of mesothelioma.
Matthew Bergman, Principal at Bergman Draper Oslund, said: “It is unconscionable that dying asbestos victims seeking accountability from the companies that poisoned them are forced to undergo autopsies as the price for seeking justice. Moreover, two plaintiffs in King County with the same illness and prognosis, asking for the same legal remedy which they are entitled to, could end up with two different decisions. The religious person may currently avoid an autopsy while the non-religious person, unfortunately, may be forced to undergo an autopsy. The Court must act to correct this injustice now.” In response to the petition, the asbestos companies argue that all plaintiffs who die during their case should be autopsied regardless of any religious or ethical objections they may hold and that failure to furnish consent should result in severe sanctions from the Court.
The petition, which will be heard April 27 in Washington State’s King County Superior Court, cites three reasons the existing regulation, Section 6.3 of the King County Asbestos Style Order, needs to be amended.
First, existing regulations conflict with Washington State autopsy statutes. Washington law provides unambiguous guidance on the rights of all Washington citizens regarding when and how autopsies are conducted, and the King County Court rule contradicts this. Second, the Court is being asked to intrude into one of our most basic and protected rights: religious freedom. Asking […]