Neurotoxic Chemical Effects Information

1. 1978: Awarded the Doctor of Philosophy degree from Washington State University.


2. 1979: Awarded the National Institute of Health Post-Doctoral Fellow in Biological Psychiatry, Millhauser Laboratory, New York University Medical Center, New York City.


3. 1980: Awarded the National Institute of Health Post-Doctoral Fellow in Environmental Epidemiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City, under the direction of Dr. Irving J. Selikoff, one of the top applied toxicologist in the world, who brought the dangers of asbestos to the world's attention.


4. 1983: Began independent practice as a neuropsychologist and a neurotoxicologist.


5. 1984: Served as one of approximately 6 expert medical witnesses in the Agent Orange Vietnam Veterans Litigation. The class action case was settled out-of-court in 1984 for $180 million dollars, reportedly the largest settlement of its kind at that time.
   
   
   • http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Benefits/Herbicide/AOno2.htm


6. 1987: With blind funding from Archer Daniels Midland and the National Renewable Fuels Association, I developed a report regarding Congressional regulation of neurotoxic chemicals in gasoline, entitled The Toxicity of Gasoline Additives, circulated among U.S. Congress and staff. In this report, I warned Congress that methyl tetrabutyl ether (MTBE), used as a gasoline additive, would have serious toxic consequences. My predictions were found to be accurate.
   
   
   • Due to toxicity problems, MTBE has been banned in California in 2003. http://www.energy.ca.gov/mtbe/
   
   
   • Some drinking-water supplies that have been contaminated by MTBE have been shut down pending remediation. Consumers and government agencies in many parts of the United States now oppose the use of MTBE in gasoline. Chevron, Texaco and other energy companies are involved in cleaning up MTBE pollution and no longer manufacture the product.
   
   
   http://www.chevron.com/cr_report/2002/environmental_issues/case_studies/mtbe_phaseout_cleanup.asp


7. 1987: Developed the Neurotoxicity Screening Survey, an instrument to determine the consistency of symptoms with patients diagnosed with neurotoxicity.


8. 1990: Published the Neurotoxicity Guidebook, one of perhaps two single author texts on this subject, by Van Nostrand Reinhold. Revised First Edition, Aventine Press, 2005.


9. 1990: Elected as a Fellow, American Psychological Association in recognition of "outstanding, substantial and unusual contribution to psychology". Approximately 2% of American psychologists had been elected to this status when awarded in 1990.


10. 1991: Consultant in neuropsychology and neurotoxicology, United States Department of Justice, Environmental Crimes Section, and Federal Bureau of Investigation: I conducted an investigation of a hazardous solvent waste neurotoxicity case.


11. 1992: Served as an expert witness in landmark litigation where the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously accepted the testimony of Dr. Raymond Singer, stating "a witness who is not a physician, but who qualifies as an expert under [state evidence rules] may give evidence that would be relevant to diagnosis of a medical condition" - in this case, a multiple sclerosis type condition from gasoline exposure. Shilling v. Mobile Analytical Servs., Inc., 602 N.E.2d 1154 (Ohio 1992).


12. 1993: Board-Certified Diplomate in Neuropsychology, American Board of Professional Neuropsychology


13. 1997: Served as an expert in Birklid et al. v. Boeing, Washington state, wherein the Court permitted claimants the right to directly sue employers for toxic injuries in certain worker's compensation claims. Birklid v. Boeing, a 1995 en banc (9-0) decision of the state Supreme Court, changed Washington State law regarding employer liability for “deliberate” injury by allowing, for the first time in 73 years, a disputed claim of deliberate injury to proceed against the state’s largest employer (http://www.law.seattleu.edu/Faculty/Faculty_Profiles/Adjunct/Randy_Gordon.xml).


14. 1994-1999: Served as president and other elected positions for the Roundtable of Toxicology Consultants (an organization of independent, consulting toxicologists, composed of consultant members of the Society of Toxicology - the premier organization of toxicologists in the world).


15. 1999: Upon invitation of the German Federal Government, SPD Bundestagfraktion, I addressed The Great Assembly Hall of Parliament (Deutscher Bundestag), Wasserwerk, Bonn, Germany.


16. 2001: Served as an expert witness in a landmark United States Appeals Court decision, enabling plaintiffs to seek compensation for injuries even if the toxicology/medical literature is incomplete. The first several victims of new toxic tort should not be barred from suit simply because medical literature, which will eventually support causal connection, has not yet been completed. Plaintiffs need not produce mathematically precise tables equating levels of exposure with levels of harm, but need merely offer evidence from which jurors can reasonably conclude that exposure probably caused injuries. There is no requirement that plaintiff's expert must always cite published studies on general causation, nor that pertinent epidemiological studies supporting plaintiff's position exist. Even if trial judge believes there are better grounds for some alternative conclusion, and that there are some flaws in expert's methods, expert's opinion should be admitted if there exist good grounds to support it. Only question is whether testimony is sufficiently reliable and relevant to assist jury. The manufacturer attempted to exclude my testimony under Daubert rules, but my testimony and the original verdict was upheld by the Court. The plaintiff was awarded $2.1 million, a precedent setting verdict in that jurisdiction.(Bonner v. ISP Techs., Inc., 259 F.3d 924 (8th Cir. 2001)); http://daubertontheweb.com/toxicologists.htm.


17. 2001: Served as an expert witness in State of Missouri versus DeLong, who faced the death penalty for multiple murder. I testified that toxic chemical poisoning altered his brain function, damaging his ability to think, plan and control his impulses. The defendant was spared the death penalty.


18. 2004: Elected as a Fellow, National Academy of Neuropsychology, for "significant contributions to the Science and Profession of Neuropsychology", awarded to approximately 213 neuropsychologists in the world at that time.


19. 2004: Diplomate in Neuropsychology with Added Qualification in Forensic Neuropsychology, American Board of Professional Neuropsychology (12 such certifications awarded worldwide at that time).


20. 2009: Served as an expert witness in State of Washington versus Zamora, who faced the death penalty for multiple murder. I wrote a report and expressed my opinion that neurotoxicity from substances including mold mycotoxins had altered his brain function and damaged his ability to think, plan and control his impulses. The case settled without a trial, and the defendant was spared death penalty.


21. 2009: Served as an expert witness in a neurotoxicity case on appeal, wherein the appeals court judge accepted my opinion, overturned the lower court, and concluded that the claimant's injuries included chemical sensitivities, as well as toxic encephalopathy. In Washington State Board of Industrial Appeals Re: Steven Vaughn.


22. 2009: Served as an expert witness in a British Columbia Worker's Compensation Appeals Tribunal (Re: Paul Whitehead). The Appeals Tribunal in an 83 page decision accepted my opinion that neurotoxicity from mercury significantly injured a worker, and that the worker was eligible for compensation.


23. 2010: Served as an expert witness in a State of Washington Industrial Insurance Appeals Court, wherein the judge reversed the lower court, characterized me as highly qualified, and accepted my opinion that the worker was injured from her work at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation (RE: Diana Gegg).


24. 2010: Authored a chapter on The Neurotoxicity Syndrome - one of the first published work identifying neurotoxicity as a specific syndrome, in Singer, R. (In press). The Neurotoxicity Syndrome. In Schoenberg, MR & Scott, JG. The Black Book of Neuropsychology: a Syndrome Based Approach. New York: Springer.


25. 2010: Authored an updated chapter on Forensic Neurotoxicology - Singer, R. (2010): Forensic neurotoxicology. In the Handbook of Forensic Neuropsychology, Second Edition. New York: Springer.

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