Chemical, plastics makers awarded win in “Blue Vinyl” lawsuit

The Superior Court of Delaware has dismissed conspiracy charges in the so-called “Blue Vinyl” lawsuit brought against more than 30 firms.

Lori Anne Sanzone, who launched the lawsuit in 2000 — and told her story in the widely distributed documentary Blue Vinyl — claimed she contracted a rare form of liver cancer after working seven days in a Florida pipe-making plant that used polyvinyl chloride (PVC). She held the job in 1978.

However, it turns out that Sanzone doesn’t suffer from angiosarcoma, but has epithelioid hemangioendothelioma, which is thought to be linked to birth control pills.

Sanzone sued the American Chemistry Council and 30 other businesses involved in the industry over the past 50 years. Although she won’t contest the ruling, she will reportedly earn a settlement.

Organizations that had never supplied polyvinyl chloride materials were named because they “allegedly participated in a supposedly enormous and far-reaching conspiracy to injure plaintiff,” according to one court document.

The Blue Vinyl documentary by Judith Helfand and Daniel Gold was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, and was also shown on the U.S.-based HBO television network.