Cleveland Plain Dealer, "Plaintiff lawyers find hope in welding-lawsuit ruling"

          Lawyers who are suing Lincoln Electric Co. and other firms for damages relating to illnesses allegedly caused by welding fumes say a Cleveland judge's latest ruling will allow their claims to go forward.
          Defense lawyers have said such claims have no scientific basis, but U.S. District Judge Kathleen O'Malley said that's up to a jury to decide.
          "The evidence so far presented is sufficiently reliable to support the assertion that exposure to low-manganese welding fumes can cause, contribute to, or accelerate a movement disorder, including a parkinsonian syndrome that some doctors will diagnose as PD [Parkinson's disease]," O'Malley said in a ruling issued Monday. .
          Her ruling was in connection with a case that no longer is in court, but it applies to similar welding-fume lawsuits being consolidated in O'Malley's jurisdiction, lawyers said.