A silica action involving silicosis shall not be brought or maintained in the absence of prima facie evidence that the exposed person has a physical impairment for which exposure to silica was a substantial contributing factor. The prima facie showing shall be made as to each defendant and include a detailed narrative medical report and diagnosis signed under oath by a qualified physician that includes all of the following:
 1. Radiological or pathological evidence of silicosis or a high-resolution computed tomography scan showing evidence of silicosis.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 686B.5

  • 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
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Records: includes probate and other official public records, as well as records in the office of the county recorder. See Iowa Code 614.29
  • Silica: means a respirable crystalline form of silicon dioxide, including quartz, cristobalite, and tridymite. 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
  • year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. A detailed occupational and exposure history from the exposed person or, if that person is deceased, from the person most knowledgeable about the exposures that form the basis of the action, including identification of all principal places of employment and exposures to airborne contaminants and whether each place of employment involved exposures to airborne contaminants, including silica or other disease-causing dusts or fumes, that may cause pulmonary impairment and the nature, duration, and level of any exposure.
 3. A detailed medical, social, and smoking history from the exposed person or, if that person is deceased, from the person most knowledgeable, including a thorough review of the past and present medical problems of the exposed person and the most probable cause of such medical problems.
 4. Evidence that a sufficient latency period has elapsed between the exposed person’s date of first exposure to silica and the day of diagnosis.
 5. Evidence based upon a personal medical examination and pulmonary function testing of the exposed person or, if the exposed person is deceased, based upon the person’s medical records, that the exposed person has or the deceased person had a permanent respiratory impairment rating of at least class 2 as defined by and evaluated pursuant to the AMA guides or reported significant changes year to year in lung function for FVC, FEV1, or diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide as defined by the American thoracic society’s interpretative strategies for lung function tests, 26 European Respiratory Journal 948-68, 961-62, table 12 (2005), as updated.
 6. The qualified physician signing the detailed narrative medical report has concluded that exposure to silica was a substantial contributing factor to the exposed person’s physical impairment and not more probably the result of other causes. An opinion stating that the medical findings and impairment are consistent with or compatible with exposure to silica, or similar opinion, does not satisfy the requirements of this subsection.
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