The cases before U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle were filed under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022, authorizing the claims and barring the federal government from asserting immunity as a defense.

The U.S. government gave deficient and formulaic answers to claims in lawsuits alleging people were poisoned by the water at Camp Lejeune Marine base, a group of plaintiffs told a North Carolina federal court Wednesday in a bid to have the defenses dumped.

The government is dealing in speculation in some of its answers, and speculation cannot be an affirmative defense, Nevin Wisnoski of Napoli Shkolnik told the court.

To show the government's apathetic response to the lawsuits, the plaintiffs pointed to its negligence defenses. The plaintiffs told the court these aren't negligence cases; they're cases based on statutory claims.

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