( August 21, 2025, 8:18 AM EDT) -- GRETNA, La. — While a trial judge improperly went outside the record after a bench trial to determine that a woman’s chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) could have been caused by asbestos rather than smoking cigarettes, the record supported the conclusion that COPD was only a contributing cause to a woman’s death and the judge’s resulting award of more than $5 million in damages, a divided Louisiana court said in affirming the judgment....