Background

Ethylene Oxide (EtO) is an industrial solvent widely used as a sterilizing agent for medical and other equipment that cannot otherwise be sterilized by heat/steam. EtO may also be used as a component for producing other chemicals, including glycol and polyglycol ethers, emulsifiers, detergents, and solvents. Allegations that exposure to EtO increases the risk of certain cancers has led to governmental regulation as well as private tort actions against companies that operate sterilization facilities that utilize EtO.

The first ethylene oxide case to go to trial was the Kamuda matter, in which an Illinois jury awarded $263 million in September of 2022 against Sterigenics for ethylene oxide exposure from that company’s Willowbrook facility. A subsequent trial in the same jurisdiction against the same defendant resulted in a defense verdict. Ultimately, Sterigenics resolved its pending claims involving the Willowbrook plant in the amount of $408 million.

Colorado Verdict

In only the third ethylene oxide case to go to verdict in the country (and the first one outside of Illinois), on March 14, 2025 a Colorado jury rendered a verdict in favor of defendant Terumo BCT Inc. Not only was this the first ethylene oxide trial to go to verdict outside of Illinois, it was the first one not involving defendant Sterigenics. The Colorado case is Isaacks et al. v. Terumo BCT Sterilization Services Inc. et al. in the First Judicial District of Colorado (docket number 2022CV031124). This was a bellwether trial that lasted six weeks, and involved four female plaintiffs. The jury determined that the defendant was not negligent in its handling of emissions from its Lakewood plant. The plaintiffs had sought $217 million in damages for their alleged physical impairment and also $7.5 million for past and future medical expenses as well as punitive damages. In light of the fact that the six person jury found the defendant Terumo not negligent, it did not need to consider damages or causation. Notably, there remain hundreds more pending claims against Terumo in Colorado. In fact, plaintiffs’ counsel filed almost 25 more cases while the trial was in progress.

All of the plaintiffs alleged that they had developed cancer as a result of ethylene oxide emissions from the Terumo facility. One plaintiff alleged breast cancer as a result of 23 years of exposure from the plant, while another alleged breast cancer after almost 35 years of exposure (these two plaintiffs were neighbors). Another plaintiff alleged multiple myeloma while the fourth plaintiff alleged Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Analysis

While it is difficult to draw conclusions from a sample size of three verdicts given the differences in plaintiffs, jurisdictions, and alleged disease processes, we continue to believe that plaintiff firms will recruit new clients who allege some type of cancer as a result of residing in the vicinity of an ethylene oxide plant. In fact, there is ongoing ethylene oxide litigation in California and a few other states. How long will it be until we see television advertisements run by plaintiff firms seeking new plaintiffs? We’ve seen this in asbestos, talc, contaminated water, firefighting foam, defective earplugs, and other types of litigation. It is not out of the realm of possibility to think that we will see this with ethylene oxide litigation at some point in the near future.