CHICAGO - A jury reached a verdict Monday in favor of an Illinois cancer survivor who sued a medical device sterilization company.Kamuda, who lived within a quarter-mile of the former plant for over 40 years, developed breast cancer in 2007.
She had no history of cancer in her family and didn’t know Sterigenics was releasing a toxic chemical. It’s the highest jury verdict on record for an individual plaintiff in the state of Illinois, exceeding the $34 million Kamuda’s lawyers requested. Sterigenics permanently closed in 2019 after the Environmental Protection Agency released a report showing that people living near the plant were 10 times more likely to develop cancer.