Morin

MEMORANDUM *

Vicky Morin appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the United States of America on her Federal Tort Claims Act negligence case. Morin sought compensation from the United States for cancer she alleged was caused by her exposure to jet fuel and jet engine exhaust fumes while employed at the Naval Air Station in Fallon, Nevada. The district court held that Morin’s only proffered expert testimony — that of her treating physician, Dr. Gary Ridenour — failed to provide sufficient evidence of causation to create a genuine issue of material fact for trial.

The district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding Dr. Gary Ridenour’s testimony, and Morin otherwise failed to create a triable issue of causation. We therefore affirm.

Dr. Ridenour opined that Morin’s plasmacytoma was caused by exposure to jet fuel and/or jet engine exhaust, but he did not conduct any independent research to support his conclusion that jet fuel and jet engine exhaust were generally capable of causing plasmacytoma, nor did the studies he cited provide sufficient support for that principle. See Shewit Bezabeh et al., Does Benzene Cause Multiple Myeloma? An Analysis…