Channel surfing on any given day will usually uncover at least one advertisement for a mesothelioma lawyer. Although most people are not familiar with the relatively uncommon form of cancer known as mesothelioma, the disease has spawned waves of litigation and big dollar jury verdicts and settlements.
What is Mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma is a cancer that affects a protective membrane (the mesothelium) that lines the chest cavity and other parts of the body. Mesothelium cells produce a fluid that lubricates organs to make it easier for them to move. According to the American Cancer Society, 2,000 to 3,000 new mesothelioma cases are diagnosed each year. Most mesotheliomas originate in the chest cavity.
Causes of Mesothelioma
Various forms of cancer have multiple potential causes or risk factors. The presence of a risk factor increases the probability that a person will develop a disease.
Researchers have identified one primary risk factor for mesothelioma – exposure to asbestos. Men are much more likely to develop mesothelioma than women, but this could be a result of higher rates of workplace exposure to asbestos among men instead of an independent risk factor. New cases continue to arise despite the fact that manufacturers discontinued the use of asbestos because the disease often does not develop until decades after asbestos exposure.
Sources of Asbestos
Asbestos is a strong and heat resistant mineral. Those properties made it popular among manufacturers of construction materials and automobile parts. Doctors can usually trace a patient’s mesothelioma to workplace exposure. Mining asbestos and manufacturing or working with asbestos containing materials puts workers at risk. High risk professions include construction, factory workers, shipyard employees, some miners and mechanics. Family members of workers can also develop mesothelioma from asbestos fibers carried home in clothing.
Mesothelioma Lawsuits
Personal injury attorneys face substantial challenges when trying to prove a defendant caused many other types of cancer. Defendants can cite multiple risk factors other than their own activities, which makes it difficult to find sufficient evidence that the defendant was the most likely cause of the plaintiff’s cancer. Asbestos lawsuits face fewer evidentiary obstacles because mesothelioma is a relatively rare form of cancer and asbestos is the main risk factor. In addition, the other risk factors (exposure to thorium dioxide in certain X-rays and a portion of polio vaccines produced from 1955 to 1963) are uncommon. Unless an asbestos defendant can connect a mesothelioma plaintiff to one of these other unusual risk factors, it will be the only likely cause of the cancer.
Large companies that manufactured or distributed asbestos containing products provide a source of recovery for damages in asbestos litigation. However, massive litigation can eventually empty even the deepest of pockets. Facing billions of dollars in potential claims, many companies with asbestos liabilities filed for bankruptcy.
United States Gypsum Company (USG) provides an example of an asbestos bankruptcy. USG manufactures drywall, ceiling tiles and other building products. USG filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001 because of asbestos litigation. Filing bankruptcy allowed the company to enter into a settlement to resolve all asbestos claims for which it may be liable by establishing an asbestos trust fund.
Not all companies with asbestos liabilities went bankrupt. Lawyers representing people suffering from the painful cancer mesothelioma continue to file new lawsuits against them. Don’t expect those mesothelioma lawsuit advertisements to stop until the damage caused by years of asbestos exposure runs its course.
References:
American Cancer Society, Malignant Mesothelioma Overview
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Asbestos
Tony Meier - Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Tony Meier has been practicing law for over 10 years. He represents individuals, new companies and established ...
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