Articles Posted in September, 2016

Asbestos has been used in industrial and commercial applications since the middle of the 19th Century up until around the 1970s. While it took many years, asbestos products manufacturers finally came to terms with the dangers their products posed to the public and ceased production, but not until many innocent people were hurt.

Fortunately, many victims were able to file mesothelioma cancer lawsuits against various asbestos companies for their debilitating medical conditions and the compensation they needed for medical treatment. However, it is not always necessary to file a formal lawsuit against an asbestos company to recover for damages. Instead, some companies created asbestos bankruptcy trust funds to dispense compensation.

Often times, companies reorganize through bankruptcy proceedings, which can also absolve them of liability for the harm their products have done. However, before courts allow companies to reorganize they sometimes require them to set aside large sums of money to pay out claims to victims, and the asbestos industry was no exception.

The events of September 11, 2001 shook our country to its very core and tested the resiliency of the nation as a whole. In addition to the 3,000 lives lost in the terrorist attacks which downed airplanes in Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., and New York, many more passed away from the clean-up effort in downtown Manhattan because they were exposed to toxic particles in the debris.

What many people do not realize is that the World Trade Centers were built with 20 stories of asbestos which spread through the air as the Twin Towers came crashing down. To date, over 200 people were killed and half a million made sick by inhaling some of the 2,000 tons of asbestos that went airborne.

The amount of asbestos released in the collapse was enough to fill the equivalent of 182 school buses and made the air 112,000 times more contaminated with asbestos than the federal legal limit for buildings. Sources further estimate there has been an almost 20% increase in first responders who developed cancer as a result of the rescue and cleanup efforts.

If you or a loved one developed mesothelioma, you will undoubtedly have numerous questions about the disease including how it was caused. Most folks understand it to be almost common knowledge that mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos but what many may not realize is just how prevalent asbestos was in so many common and everyday products people were exposed to.

Furthermore, mesothelioma victims should understand just how many different companies or other parties may have had a hand in exposing them to the asbestos that led to their serious medical condition. Often times, many of these parties can be held responsible if they played a role in the victim developing mesothelioma or another serious asbestos-related health condition.

Types of Asbestos Products

Receiving a mesothelioma diagnosis or another asbestos-related medical condition can be devastating news for patients and their families. While mesothelioma is a rare type of lung cancer, it is well-known for being incurable and connected to exposure to asbestos.

Mesothelioma victims often look back on their careers and lifestyles to try and determine where the exposure came from and why the condition formed in the first place. Often times, asbestos exposure occurs because the victim worked in an environment contaminated by asbestos, handled products made with asbestos, and was not told about the dangers of coming in contact with the material.

Courts in the U.S. have handed down thousands of significant awards to mesothelioma victims and their families to compensate them for the harm suffered due to asbestos exposure. In asbestos mesothelioma lawsuits there may be several parties that can be held responsible for their roles in the victims suffering injuries.