Ohio: Asbestos Law Can Be Retroactive
Yesterday, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the 2004 law imposing stricter criteria on lawsuits concerned with asbestos related deaths and illnesses can be applied to cases that were lodged prior to the passing of the law.
This ruling will have a profound effect on possibly tens of thousands of cases concerning the health effects of asbestos that were already going through the Ohio legal system.
The court ruled 6-1 on applying the law retroactively because, they said, the changes were 'remedial and procedural' in nature. The Ohio Constitution bars retroactive laws that change the nature, or substance, of a law, they said.