Aubrey Miller
Dr. Aubrey Miller is a physician with the U.S. Public Health Service and the Food and Drug Administration. He was formerly a senior medical officer and toxicologist for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 8 office in Denver. He is an expert witness designated by the government in the criminal prosecution of W.R. Grace & Co.
Miller worked for the federal government caring for patients suffering from asbestos-related disease as a Board Certified occupational physician and spent more than eight years working understanding the health effects associated with asbestos exposure in Libby, Mont., according to testimony before the Committee on Environment and Public Works at the U.S. Senate in 2007.
When the Environmental Protection Agency was called in to inspect reports of asbestos contamination in Libby, Miller led the government’s efforts to protect the people from the asbestos that dusted the town. He and EPA toxicologist Chris Weis arrived in Libby for the first time in November 1999 on a trip ordered by then-Regional EPA administrator Bill Yellowtail.
Miller told the committee that his early work in Libby for the Department of Health and Human Services focused on strengthening the healthcare infrastructure of the Libby community “to better care for those affected by this terrible tragedy.”
In pretrial motions and during the trial itself, Grace’s defense lawyers have questioned Miller’s scientific qualifications as a government expert witness and sought to limit the scope of Miller’s testimony. In the Defendants’ Joint Motion to Exclude Testimony of Miller, Grace said the concentrations of tremolite asbestos in the environmental air is so minimal in Libby that it poses no health risk, and defense attorneys question Miller’s methods in determining the risk levels of asbestos in the air.
The defense has argued that Miller only uses studies that involve high-intensity exposures to support his opinions.
In pretrial motions, the defense made clear it expects Miller to testify that there is “imminent and substantial endangerment to public health from asbestos contamination in various types of source materials at residential and commercial properties in and around the community of Libby, Montana.”
The prosecution has entered an article into evidence which Miller co-authored titled, “Radiographic Abnormalities and Exposure to Asbestos-Contaminated Vermiculite in the Community of Libby, Montana, USA” to bolster his testimony.
Miller has 18 years of experience specializing in preventive medicine, occupational medicine and public health. Miller graduated from the University of Illinois with undergraduate degrees in biology and political science. Miller also has a Master’s of Science in occupational health and sciences.
Miller graduated Rush Medical College in 1988. He continued his graduate education at Cook County Hospital in occupational medicine, which he completed in 1991. From 1991 to 1993 Miller was a part of a fellowship specializing in epidemiology work and public health research, and he is board certified in occupational and environmental medicine.
In 1993 Miller joined the U.S. Public Health Service and in 1997 began responding to environmental emergencies. Miller also worked for The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for seven years, and in 1997 began his work with the EPA. In the summer of 1998 Miller moved to Denver, working closely with the EPA Region 8 office. In the spring of 2003 Miller was named the Senior Medical Officer in Toxicology for Region 8.
Miller is currently a captain for the U.S. Public Health Service Region 8 and lives in Ohio, according to court testimony.
– Kalie Tenenbaum