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Ruling Lets $50 Million Fla. Anthrax Suit Go Forward

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The Associated Press

Published: March 8, 2009

ATLANTA - A federal appeals court ruling will allow the widow of an anthrax victim to continue a $50 million lawsuit
claiming that the federal government was ultimately responsible for her husband's death.

Maureen Stevens' husband, Robert, was a photo editor who was exposed to anthrax mailed to the Boca Raton office of American Media Inc., a supermarket tabloid publisher, in 2001. He was the
first of five people killed and 17 others sickened in a series of similar attacks.

U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley in Florida refused to dismiss Stevens' suit against the federal government and Battelle Memorial Institute, a private laboratory. The government appealed
to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, which asked the Florida Supreme Court to clarify state law position on the issue.

The state high court ruled 4-1 Oct. 30 that the defendants had a duty under Florida law to protect the public against the unauthorized release of lethal materials.

Friday's ruling by a three-judge appellate panel sends the case back to U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach.

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