Terms Used In Iowa Code > Chapter 686B - Asbestos and Silica Claims Priorities

• AMA guides: means the American medical association's guides to the evaluation of permanent impairment in effect at the time of the performance of any examination or test on the exposed person required under this chapter. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• Asbestos: means the same as defined in section 686A. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• Asbestos action: means the same as defined in section 686A. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• Asbestosis: means bilateral diffuse interstitial fibrosis of the lungs caused by inhalation of asbestos fibers. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• Board-certified in internal medicine: means certified by the American board of internal medicine or the American osteopathic board of internal medicine at the time of the performance of an examination and rendition of a report required by this chapter. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• Board-certified in occupational medicine: means certified in the specialty of occupational medicine by the American board of preventive medicine or the specialty of occupational/environmental medicine by the American osteopathic board of preventive medicine at the time of the performance of an examination and rendition of a report required by this chapter. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• Board-certified in pathology: means holding primary certification in anatomic pathology or clinical pathology from the American board of pathology or the American osteopathic board of pathology at the time of the performance of an examination and rendition of a report required by this chapter, and practicing principally in the field of pathology including regular evaluation of pathology materials obtained from surgical or postmortem specimens. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• Board-certified in pulmonary medicine: means certified in the specialty of pulmonary medicine by the American board of internal medicine or the American osteopathic board of internal medicine at the time of the performance of an examination and rendition of a report required by this chapter. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• Child: includes child by adoption. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Exposed person: means a person whose exposure to asbestos or silica or to asbestos-containing products or silica-containing products is the basis for an asbestos action or silica action. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
• FVC: means forced vital capacity, which is the maximal volume of air expired with maximum effort from a position of full inspiration. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• Nonmalignant condition: means any condition that can be caused by asbestos or silica other than a diagnosed cancer. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• Pathological evidence of silicosis: means a statement by a physician who is board-certified in pathology that more than one representative section of lung tissue uninvolved with any other disease process demonstrates complicated silicosis with characteristic confluent silicotic nodules or lesions equal to or greater than one centimeter and birefringent crystals or other demonstration of crystal structures consistent with silica, well-organized concentric whorls of collagen surrounded by inflammatory cells, in the lung parenchyma and no other more likely explanation for the presence of the fibrosis exists, or acute silicosis with characteristic pulmonary edema, interstitial inflammation, and the accumulation within the alveoli of proteinaceous fluid rich in surfactant. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Plaintiff: means the person bringing an asbestos action or silica action, including a personal representative if the asbestos action or silica action is brought by an estate, or a conservator or next friend if the asbestos action or silica action is brought on behalf of a minor or legally incapacitated individual. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Predicted lower limit of normal: means the test value that is the calculated standard convention lying at the fifth percentile, below the upper ninety-five percent of the reference population, based on age, height, and gender, according to the recommendations by the American thoracic society and as referenced in the applicable AMA guides, primarily national health and nutrition examination survey predicted values, or as amended. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Qualified physician: means a physician who is board-certified in internal medicine, board-certified in pathology, board-certified in pulmonary medicine, or board-certified in occupational medicine, as may be appropriate to the actual diagnostic specialty in question, and for whom all of the following are true:
   a. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• Radiological evidence of diffuse bilateral pleural thickening: means a quality 1 chest X ray under the ILO system, or a quality 2 chest X ray in a death case when no pathology or quality 1 chest X ray is available, showing diffuse bilateral pleural thickening of at least b2 on the ILO scale and blunting of at least one costophrenic angle as classified by a certified B-reader. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• Records: includes probate and other official public records, as well as records in the office of the county recorder. See Iowa Code 614.29
• Relative: means an ascendant, descendant, or collateral or an individual otherwise related to another individual by blood, marriage, adoption, or other law of this state. See Iowa Code 651.1
• Silica: means a respirable crystalline form of silicon dioxide, including quartz, cristobalite, and tridymite. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• Silica action: means a claim for damages or other civil or equitable relief presented in a civil action arising out of, based on, or related to the health effects of exposure to silica, including loss of consortium, wrongful death, mental or emotional injury, risk or fear of disease or other injury, costs of medical monitoring or surveillance, and any other derivative claim made by or on behalf of a person exposed to silica or a representative, spouse, parent, child, or other relative of that person. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• Silicosis: means simple silicosis, acute silicosis, accelerated silicosis, or chronic silicosis caused by the inhalation of respirable silica. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• State: includes any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession subject to the legislative authority of the United States. See Iowa Code 633D.2
• Supporting test results: means copies of the B-reading; pulmonary function tests, including printouts of the flow volume loops, volume time curves, diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide graphs, lung volume tests and graphs, quality control data and other pertinent data for all trials and all other elements required to demonstrate compliance with the equipment, quality, interpretation, and reporting standards set forth in this chapter; B-reader reports; reports of X ray examinations; diagnostic imaging of the chest; pathology reports; and all other tests reviewed by the diagnosing physician or a qualified physician in reaching the physician's conclusions. See Iowa Code 686B.2
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1