'King of Torts’ Fred Baron Dies after Successful Quest for Experimental Drug
Dallas trial lawyer Fred Baron has died at the age of 61, two weeks after a successful quest to obtain an experimental drug to treat his cancer.
Baron had multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow, the Associated Press reports. He was known as the “king of torts” for representing clients injured by asbestos and other toxic substances, according to the Dallas Morning News. He formed his own law firm, which became known as Baron & Budd, to pursue a case that his former employer had rejected, the Morning News story says.
Baron’s son, Andrew, wrote on his blog about his father’s efforts to obtain the experimental drug Tysabri, approved to treat multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease. He was able to obtain it through the Mayo Clinic despite the drugmaker’s fears that a bad outcome could restrict the drug’s use on other patients.
Baron was active as a Democratic fundraiser and was recently in the news for paying to relocate the mistress of presidential candidate John Edwards to California.
