A Joplin, Missouri couple who won $20 million in 2004 for health injuries suffered from workplace exposure to diacetyl, an ingredient used to give popcorn its buttery flavor, has filed for bankruptcy .
A jury awarded Eric Peoples $18 million and his wife Cassandra $2 million after Peoples brought a lawsuit against International Flavors and Fragrance Inc. and its subsidiary Bush Boake Allen Inc., a popcorn flavor and fragrance maker. Doctors testified that Peoples would need a double-lung transplant after suffering from Bronchiolitis obliterans or “popcorn lung.” Symptoms of “popcorn lung” include shortness of breath, wheezing and dry cough.
“Popcorn lung” first came to light in 2001 when workers at plant that made microwaveable popcorn started developing the condition. Dutch researchers then determined a link between diacetyl and the condition.
US researcher David Michaels, a former assistant secretary of energy, said heated diacetyl produces a gas that can be potentially lethal. “It just devastates their lungs,” Michaels told ABC News.
Manufacturers have paid over $100 million in damages to “ popcorn lung ” sufferers.
The Peoples filed for bankruptcy on September 10 and are being forced to sell their $3.9 million home in order to pay their creditors. The builder of their home, which sits on 10.5 acres, says the couple still owes him $107,147. A judge ruled the builder, Jeff Neely, was entitled to annual interest of 9 percent after the couple failed to pay.
Court records put the value of the Peoples’ home at $700,000, and their personal property at $32,992. That includes two Hondas, a Chrysler PT Cruiser and a Kawasaki Mule.
The couple claims liabilities of $611,085, which includes a $482,876 mortgage. They owe money to more than a dozen creditors. In December, they asked a judge to set aside their debt because of Eric Peoples’ declining health.
