CLAIMANT’S EXPERT PROVIDED SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE OF A CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLAIMANT FIREFIGHTER’S LUNG CANCER AND EXPOSURE TO TOXINS AT GROUND ZERO, WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BOARD REVERSED (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing the Workers’ Compensation Board, determined the evidence supported a finding that claimant firefighter’s lung cancer and death were caused by exposure to toxins at Ground Zero:

The Board found the opinion of Ploss [claimant’s expert] to be incredible in part because he did not “cite to any studies or other evidence to sufficiently explain his opinion regarding causation.” However, Ploss opined that “[i]t is well accepted that the numerous carcinogens contained in the debris of th[e] highly polluted area known as Ground Zero could cause numerous malignancies such as cancer of the lungs.” As claimant asserts, the question of whether such studies supported the doctor’s findings could have been raised at the hearing, but was not. Ploss further testified that the toxic exposure at Ground Zero that decedent experienced was intense and concentrated given his prolonged exposure and lack of respiratory protection and that such exposure would have resulted in damage to decedent’s bronchial tree and lung tissue. In our view, the medical opinion of Ploss was neither speculative nor a general expression of possibility and demonstrated that decedent’s exposure at Ground Zero and the World Trade Center site was a contributing factor to his demise for purposes of causation. In view of the foregoing, the Board improperly rejected Ploss’ uncontroverted medical opinion as to causation … . Matter of Murphy v New York State Cts., 2022 NY Slip Op 00087, Third Dept 1-6-22