Pubdate: Sun, 06 Sep 2009
Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT)
Copyright: 2009 The Salt Lake Tribune
Contact:  http://www.sltrib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/383
Author: Nate Carlisle, Staff Writer

'METH COPS' LEGAL CASES TRYING TO GET HEALTHY, TOO

Salt Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Gary Sterner ticked off  the ailments
he attributes to methamphetamine exposure.

Headaches, joint pain, esophageal problems.

"Let's see. What else," Sterner said.

"Memory loss," replied his lawyer, Susan Black Dunn.

"Oh, yeah."

But science has not yet supported the claims made by  police officers
like Sterner. Neither has Utah law.

The Utah Labor Commission this year has dismissed 19  cases filed by
the so-called "Meth Cops" or their  survivors seeking workers
compensation benefits. Many  of the cases, which were first filed four
years ago,  were dismissed at the requests of the officers, who 
wanted more time to find evidence that busting meth  labs contributed
to their ailments before they refile  their claims.

Eight cases remain because a judge says or opposing  sides agree there
is enough evidence to proceed. It's  far from certain those officers
ultimately will have  their claims upheld. Sterner's case is
proceeding, but  the case of his deceased wife, Kelly Nye, was  dismissed.

Black Dunn said Sterner has better evidence meth  contributed to his
aliments, including a doctor willing  to testify on his behalf. There
is not yet such  documentation or witnesses for Nye.

"It isn't over," Black Dunn said of Nye's and other  dismissed cases.
"We're going to keep the fight going."

The Meth Cops are comprised of a few dozen current or  former police
officers, like Sterner and Nye, who investigated or dismantled Utah
meth labs  beginning in the 1980s and 1990s. They claim the fumes  of
cooking methamphetamine, its discarded byproducts or  handling the
drug itself caused ailments ranging from  cancers, respiratory
impairments, nervous system  disorders and trouble sleeping at night.

Some of the cops began filing worker compensation  claims against
their employers beginning in 2005. But  proof meth caused their
symptoms has been tough to  find.

A state-funded study was supposed to determine whether  the Labor
Commission should assume meth exposure caused  medical problems. The
study, released in 2008, found  some suggestions the officers have an
elevated risk of  contracting lymphoma, melanoma and colon and rectal 
cancers.

But the study also warned: "These conclusions must be  viewed
cautiously ... because so few police officers  responded to the
study's surveys." So at the moment,  the burden of proof remains with
the Meth Cops.

Black Dunn, who represents about half of the dismissed  and pending
cases, concedes there is no definitive  study linking meth exposure to
the ailments described  by her clients. And because every officer has
received  individual treatment, no doctors are aware of any  clusters,
she said. But Black Dunn feels evidence  exists.

Physicians who have treated individual officers will be  willing to
testify in their favor, Black Dunn said. The  problem is, Black Dunn
said, that means rounding up a  doctor for every cop. Scientists in
the occupational  health field might also be willing to support the
cops,  she said.

"We're trying to forge new territory," Black Dunn said.  "We're
blazing the trail."

Nye was a Salt Lake City police officer who for nine  months in the
early 1990s was assigned to a narcotics  task force. Six months after
leaving that force, while  still in her early 30s, Nye needed a
hysterectomy,  Sterner said. The doctors were surprised because she 
was so young, Sterner said

Eventually, her spleen and gall bladder also were  removed and her
liver swelled. She died of kidney  failure in 2005 at age 49.

Sterner worked on the same narcotics task force for  about two years
in the early 1990s and says he has been  exposed to meth elsewhere in
his career. Today he's 57  and serves civil papers for the Salt Lake
County  Sheriff's Office.

Sometimes that means serving eviction notices on homes  that have had
a meth lab. Sterner said rashes break out  on his arms when he walks
inside those houses.

Many cities and counties buy insurance through the  Workers
Compensation Fund and it is a party in many of  the Labor Commission
cases.

J.D. Ashby, an attorney for Workers Compensation Fund,  said his
clients have not yet taken a legal position on  the cops' claims, but
he would not be surprised if some  of the dismissed cases are filed
again.

"It's just at this point they don't have evidence to  survive the
motion to dismiss," Ashby said.

Black Dunn said successful workers compensation cases  could mean
$500,000 to $1 million per officer. That  would cover lost work hours
and past and future medical  expenses.

That's what has got them worried, if something happens  down the road,
Black Dunn said. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr