Wagner v. Anchor Packing Co

In Wagner v. Anchor Packing Co., Lawrence App. No. 05CA47, 2006 Ohio 7097, the claimant had colon cancer and the court found that the prima facie requirements of R.C. 2307.92 do not apply to "other cancer" claimants. The court reasoned that nothing in the statute explicitly applies to colon cancer, that the statute explicitly requires only three types of plaintiffs to present a prima facie showing, and that colon cancer is not one of them. Further, the court pointed out that the draft of R.C. 2307.92 included a provision for other cancers; however, that provision did not make it into the final draft. The court stated that "while the General Assembly may well have intended all asbestos-related cancer claims to be subject to the new legislation, that intent is not clearly expressed in the statute." The Wagner court also held that the trial court should not have used the "competent medical authority" definition contained in R.C. 2307.91(Z) to determine whether a cause of action accrued under R.C. 2305.10 because, again, the definition is limited to establishing a prima facie case for the specific causes of action delineated in R.C. 2307.92.