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The C8 Science Panel

 

A class action lawsuit brought against DuPont by the residents of six communities with C8 contaminated water resulted in a Settlement Agreement in the Circuit Court of Wood County, West Virginia. As part of that settlement, Brookmar; Inc., an independent company, conducted a yearlong survey (August 2005 – July 2006) called the C8 Health Project. The C8 Health Project gathered information through interviews and questionnaires and collected blood samples from about 69,000 people living near the Washington Works plant in West Virginia.

The settlement also established that a group of epidemiologists (Science Panel) would assess whether or not there is a probable link between C8 exposure and human disease in the community. The Science Panel was chosen jointly by the attorneys representing the residents and lawyers representing DuPont. The panel consisted of: Dr. Tony Fletcher of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Dr. David Savitz of Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and Dr. Kyle Steenland of Emory University in Atlanta. The C8 Science Panel was chosen based upon their experience in designing and carrying out environmental health studies. Attorneys on both sides of the litigation were confident that the selected C8 Science Panel would be able to objectively generate and evaluate the evidence.

The C8 Science Panel generated multiple reports and findings. Including review of the largest singular human health study in the history of the world and countless other independent scientific studies and reviews, the C8 Science Panel confirmed that six human diseases are linked to C8 exposure. Based on the findings of the C8 Science Panel, Dupont is precluded from denying that C8 can cause the six linked disease in any trials that arise from claims made by Class Members (as defined within the Leach class action litigation).  In these cases, DuPont must concede the truth: C8 can cause kidney cancer, testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, pregnancy induced hypertension, and medically diagnosed high cholesterol. As to any other human diseases, the C8 Science Panel definitively excluded any link between C8 and all human diseases other than the six for which probable links were found.

On September 26 and September 27, 2011, the Science Panel conducted public forums to answer questions on what they had done to that point, where they were at that time, and what was left to do before they deliver their final conclusions. The Science Panel members, Dr. Tony Fletcher, Dr. Kyle Steenland, and Dr. David Savitz presented an update on their progress and answered questions from the attendees. Click the <play> icon in the media players below to view the forums in their entirety.

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Periodically, the science panel released information in the form of a newsletter. The newsletters were provided as follows:

C8 Science Panel Quarterly Newsletter July 2010

C8 Science Panel Quarterly Newsletter October 2010

C8 Science Panel Quarterly Newsletter January 2011

C8 Science Panel Quarterly Newsletter May 2011

C8 Science Panel Quarterly Newsletter August 2011

C8 Science Panel Quarterly Newsletter October 2011

C8 Science Panel Quarterly Newsletter January 2012

C8 Science Panel Quarterly Newsletter May 2012

C8 Science Panel Quarterly Newsletter August 2012

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