ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A Lehigh County judge has thrown out a lawsuit against medical supply manufacturer B. Braun, ruling it did not meet the standard to bring a class action suit.
Mourad Abdelaziz of Hanover Township, Lehigh County, filed a lawsuit in 2020 arguing that the company’s facility at 901 Marcon Blvd. emits dangerous levels of Ethylene Oxide, or EtO, a powerful disinfectant used to sterilize medical equipment.
If the suit succeeded, every member of the class — in this case, anyone living in a handful of census tracts for more than a year over a 30-plus-year period — could receive medical screenings meant to detect cancer early, plus other damages.Lehigh County Court documents
Abdelaziz’s suit alleges that B. Braun failed to follow best practices for handling EtO and preventing its release, knowingly exposing its neighbors to the chemical and raising their cancer risk.
Because it is a class action, Abdelaziz sought to represent thousands of others living nearby who may have been exposed, effectively suing on behalf of the whole group.
If the suit succeeded, every member of the class — in this case, anyone living in a handful of census tracts for more than a year over a 30-plus-year period — could receive medical screenings meant to detect cancer early, plus other damages.
"B. Braun welcomes the Lehigh County court decision and the defense verdict and will continue to defend against any of these cases," the company said in a statement.
B. Braun history of EtO release
Exposure to EtO can increase the risk of some cancers, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
From 2004 to 2024, B. Braun’s Hanover Township plant released nearly 35 tons of the gas into the surrounding air, according to data from the EPA.
EtO emissions from the site have dropped substantially in recent years as the company installed new scrubbing equipment.
B. Braun “has always employed emissions control equipment to ensure that any EtO emissions in the community surrounding the Allentown facility are minimal and compliant with the permissible limits of its permits and federal and state law.”B. Braun court filings
B. Braun’s most recent EPA filing shows the site released 447 pounds of the gas in 2024, down from 7,600 pounds in 2015.
In court filings, lawyers for the company wrote that B. Braun “has always employed emissions control equipment to ensure that any EtO emissions in the community surrounding the Allentown facility are minimal and compliant with the permissible limits of its permits and federal and state law.”
In a 2022 investigation, state Health Department epidemiologists found no “consistent pattern” in cancer rates near the site, or cancer rates “consistent with cancer patterns often associated with environmental exposure.”
Because of the limits of statistical methods researchers used, they could not definitively determine “whether cancer incidence rates near the B. Braun facility were caused by EtO exposure.”
Knowledge, regulation of EtO changed
Lehigh County Judge Michele Varricchio’s ruling, dated Dec. 31, does not address whether B. Braun harmed its neighbors by emitting EtO.
Instead, the decision narrowly considers whether Abdelaziz’s case passes a multi-step test for class action suits.
“Conduct that could be considered negligent in 1995 may not be considered negligent in 2005, or in 2015, or in 2025.”Lehigh County Judge Michele Varricchio
The suit does not meet the legal bar, Varricchio ruled, in part because members of the proposed class do not all have roughly the same case, as legal procedure requires.
Instead, she wrote, “the record is replete with issues that are highly nuanced and require individualized inquiry and proof.”
For example, Varricchio determined that exposure to EtO from the site varies depending on where exactly someone lived, when they lived near the plant, for how long they stayed and other factors.
In addition, during the 30-year span covered by the suit, “knowledge about and regulation of EtO changed,” Varricchio wrote.
“Conduct that could be considered negligent in 1995 may not be considered negligent in 2005, or in 2015, or in 2025.”
Determining a class impossible
A jury could not determine whether B. Braun was negligent toward every person living in the selected census tracts over the past more than 30 years based on Abdelaziz’s case, and as a result it could not move forward as a class action, Varricchio wrote.
Additionally, analysis Abdelaziz’s attorneys provided failed to establish how many people would be included in the class, Varricchio ruled.
That makes it impossible for her to determine there were too many potential plaintiffs for everyone potentially harmed to bring their own lawsuit.
Varricchio also criticized Abdelaziz’s attorneys handling the case, writing that by making a handful of mistakes, they showed they “are not suited to serve as counsel for the proposed class due to their inattention to detail and repeated procedural missteps.”
