SOCECOL E8 Lecture 6: Death and Justice
26 May 2016
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Document Summary
Copyright 1989, 1996 by daniel d. kennedy. In may 1982 jan richard schlichtmann, a young, cornell-educated lawyer who specialized in medical malpractice cases, filed a lawsuit against two multinational corporations in u. s. district. His clients were six woburn families, all of whom had a child who had died of leukemia or who was being treated for the illness. Schlichtmann charged that w. r. grace & company, of new york, and beatrice foods. Company, of chicago, had contaminated two municipal wells in east woburn. The suit alleged that the well water caused the leukemia cases and numerous other illnesses, including cardiac arrhythmias and disorders of the immune and neurological systems. The case, which eventually grew to involve eight families and three defendants (unifirst. Corporation was later sued in middlesex superior court in cambridge), raised considerable hopes. Members of the community believed their questions about what had happened to woburn would finally be answered -- and that those responsible would pay.
