Okla. Stat. tit. 76, § 76-92

DEFINITIONS. As used in the Asbestos and Silica Claims

Priorities Act:

1. "Asbestos" means all minerals defined as "asbestos" in 29

CFR 1910, as and if amended;

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2. "Asbestos claim" means any claim for damages or other civil

or equitable relief presented in a civil action, arising out of,

based on, or related to the health effects of exposure to asbestos,

including loss of consortium and any other derivative claim made by

or on behalf of any exposed person or any representative, spouse,

parent, child, or other relative of any exposed person;

3. "Asbestos-related injury" means personal injury or death

allegedly caused, in whole or in part, by inhalation or ingestion of

asbestos;

4. "Asbestosis" means bilateral interstitial fibrosis of the

lungs caused by inhalation of asbestos fibers;

5. "Certified B-reader" means a person who has successfully

completed the x-ray interpretation course sponsored by the National

Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and passed the

B-reader certification examination for x-ray interpretation and

whose NIOSH certification is current at the time of any readings

required by this chapter;

6. "Chest x-ray" means chest films that are taken in accordance

with accepted medical standards in effect at the time the x-ray was

taken;

7. "Claimant" means an exposed person and any person who is

seeking recovery of damages for or arising from the injury or death

of an exposed person;

8. "Defendant" means a person against whom a claim arising from

an asbestos-related injury or a silica-related injury is made;

9. "Exposed person" means a person who is alleged to have

suffered an asbestos-related injury or a silica-related injury;

10. "FEV1" means forced expiratory volume in the first second,

which is the maximal volume of air expelled in one second during

performance of simple spirometric tests;

11. "FVC" means forced vital capacity, which is the maximal

volume of air expired with maximum effort from a position of full

inspiration;

12. "ILO system of classification" means the radiological

rating system of the International Labor Office in "Guidelines for

the Use of ILO International Classification of Radiographs of

Pneumoconioses", 2000 edition, as amended from time to time by the

International Labor Office;

13. "Mesothelioma" means a rare form of cancer allegedly caused

in some instances by exposure to asbestos in which the cancer

invades cells in the membrane lining of the:

a. lungs and chest cavity (the pleural region),

b. abdominal cavity (the peritoneal region), or

c. heart (the pericardial region);

14. "Nonmalignant asbestos-related injury" means an asbestos-

related injury other than mesothelioma or other asbestos-related

malignancy;

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15. "Physician board-certified in internal medicine" means a

physician who is certified by the American Board of Internal

Medicine or corresponding board for doctors of osteopathy;

16. "Physician board-certified in occupational medicine" means

a physician who is certified in the subspecialty of occupational

medicine by the American Board of Preventive Medicine or

corresponding board for doctors of osteopathy;

17. "Physician board-certified in oncology" means a physician

who is certified in the subspecialty of medical oncology by the

American Board of Internal Medicine or corresponding board for

doctors of osteopathy;

18. "Physician board-certified in pathology" means a physician

who holds primary certification in anatomic pathology or clinical

pathology from the American Board of Pathology or corresponding

board for doctors of osteopathy and whose professional practice:

a. is principally in the field of pathology, and

b. involves regular evaluation of pathology materials

obtained from surgical or postmortem specimens;

19. "Physician board-certified in pulmonary medicine" means a
mary certification in anatomic pathology or clinical

pathology from the American Board of Pathology or corresponding

board for doctors of osteopathy and whose professional practice:

a. is principally in the field of pathology, and

b. involves regular evaluation of pathology materials

obtained from surgical or postmortem specimens;

19. "Physician board-certified in pulmonary medicine" means a

physician who is certified in the subspecialty of pulmonary medicine

by the American Board of Internal Medicine or corresponding board

for doctors of osteopathy;

20. "Physician board-certified in radiology" means a physician

who is certified by the American Board of Radiology or corresponding

board for doctors of osteopathy;

21. "Plethysmography" means the test for determining lung

volume, also known as "body plethysmography", in which the subject

of the test is enclosed in a chamber that is equipped to measure

pressure, flow, or volume change;

22. "Predicted lower limit of normal" for any test means the

fifth percentile of healthy populations based on age, height, and

gender, as referenced in the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of

Permanent Impairment (5th Edition) (dated November 2000);

23. "Pulmonary function testing" means spirometry and lung

volume testing performed in accordance with Section 5 of this act

using equipment, methods of calibration, and techniques that

materially comply with:

a. the criteria incorporated in the American Medical

Association Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent

Impairment and reported in 20 C.F.R. Part 404, Subpart

P, Appendix 1, Part (A), Sections 3.00(E) and

(F)(2003), as amended from time to time by the

American Medical Association, and

b. the interpretative standards in the Official Statement

of the American Thoracic Society entitled "Lung

Function Testing: Selection of Reference Values and

Interpretative Strategies", as published in 144

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American Review of Respiratory Disease 1202-1218

(1991), as amended from time to time by the American

Thoracic Society;

24. "Radiological evidence" of asbestosis or pleural thickening

means a chest x-ray evaluated by a certified B-reader, a

radiologist, a physician board-certified in pulmonary medicine,

occupational medicine, internal medicine, oncology, or pathology

using the ILO System of classification. The chest x-ray shall be a

quality 1 x-ray according to that ILO System, although if the

certified B-reader, board-certified pulmonologist, or board-

certified radiologist confirms that a quality 2 x-ray film is of

sufficient quality to render an accurate reading under the ILO

System of classification and no quality 1 x-ray films are available,

then the necessary radiologic findings may be made with the quality

2 x-ray film which is the subject of the confirmation above. Also,

in a death case where no pathology is available, the necessary

radiologic findings may be made with a quality 2 x-ray film if a

quality 1 x-ray film is not available;

25. "Report" means a report required by Sections 6 or 7 of this

act;

26. "Respirable" with respect to silica, means particles that

are less than ten (10) microns in diameter;

27. "Serve" means to serve notice on a party in compliance with

the Oklahoma Rules of Civil Procedure;

28. "Silica" means a naturally occurring, respirable form of

crystalline silicon dioxide, including quartz, cristobalite, and

tridymite;

29. "Silica claim" means any claim for damages or other civil

or equitable relief presented in a civil action, arising out of,

based on, or related to the health effects of exposure to silica,

including loss of consortium and any other derivative claim made by

or on behalf of any exposed person or any representative, spouse,

parent, child, or other relative of any exposed person;

30. "Silica-related injury" means personal injury or death

allegedly caused, in whole or in part, by inhalation of silica; and
ing out of,

based on, or related to the health effects of exposure to silica,

including loss of consortium and any other derivative claim made by

or on behalf of any exposed person or any representative, spouse,

parent, child, or other relative of any exposed person;

30. "Silica-related injury" means personal injury or death

allegedly caused, in whole or in part, by inhalation of silica; and

31. "Silicosis" means fibrosis of the lungs caused by

inhalation of silica, including:

a. acute silicosis, which may occur after exposure to

very high levels of silica within a period of months

to five (5) years after the initial exposure,

b. accelerated silicosis, and

c. chronic silicosis.