Sterigenics trial begins amid lawsuit accusing company of emitting cancer-causing waste into air
Lawsuit filed by cancer patient Sue Kamuda became the first case against Sterigenics to go to trial
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Opening statements began Thursday in the first trial from a lawsuit against Sterigenics.
The company sterilizes medical devices.
It is accused of illegally releasing ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing waste, into the air at its Willowbrook facility from when it opened in 1984 until the facility was permanently closed in 2019.
Sterigenics accused of paying investors millions to avoid paying victims affected by pollution
That allegedly led to a number of cancer cases in the southwest suburbs.
Thursday morning, a lawsuit filed by cancer patient Sue Kamuda became the first case against Sterigenics to go to trial. She is seeking $20 million in damages after developing breast cancer.
Sterigenics' Willlowbrook facility will permanently close, company announces
Kamuda lived about a third of a mile from the plant and her children attended school within a mile of the plant. Her son Brian was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2021 and his case is expected to go to trial at a later date.
There have been hundreds of lawsuits filed against Sterigenics.
The trial will resume Friday.
