Articles Posted in Mesothelioma Case

Asbestos litigation has been ongoing for years and has become contentious as more and more people fall ill because of exposure to asbestos and as more companies are driven into insolvency when they are unable to pay victims’ claims. Because of the ongoing legal controversies, some companies have taken a more aggressive approach to protecting their balance sheets and fighting asbestos plaintiffs seeking monetary damages.

As the Democrat & Chronicle Reports, one particular company is fighting to obtain information about asbestos plaintiffs to determine the extent of the company’s actual responsibility for damages. The fight spearheaded by this company is becoming more heated and others are joining in. The controversy underscores the importance of hiring an experienced Boston mesothelioma lawyer to ensure that you take the right legal steps to make a legitimate case so you right to damages does not come under attack.
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When Garlock went bankrupt, a federal bankruptcy judge had to decide how much money the company should put into a trust fund to pay asbestos victims who had become ill as a result of exposure to toxic asbestos fibers. Manufacturers of asbestos products pay into these trust funds to ensure that people suffering from mesothelioma, asbestosis and other serious illnesses are able to obtain compensation for losses and damages.

Advocates for asbestos victims indicated that around $1.3 billion should be set aside for the trust to protect the victims. The judge, however, made a decision that some of the asbestos claims being made were not legitimate. As a result, the judge decided to order only $125 million be put aside by Garlock in the asbestos trust fund.
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In most lawsuits based on defective products or personal injury, plaintiffs file individual claims, which become public knowledge. Asbestos cases are different. Many asbestos manufacturers have gone bankrupt because so many people were harmed by exposure and manufacturers had to compensate for serious health problems like asbestosis and mesothelioma. To ensure that victims harmed by asbestos could be compensated even if the company that made the product was bankrupt, asbestos trust funds were created.

The asbestos trust funds generally keep claims secret in order to protect the private health records of claimants. Rules set forth by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act restrict who a patient’s private data can be released to, and asbestos trust funds cannot and should not publicize details about the claims of victims harmed by asbestos.

The privacy rules and the special circumstances associated with recovering from an asbestos trust fund have, however, created an issue for health insurance companies. These health insurers are now suing to try to get information they need from asbestos trust funds. The outcome of the case could affect plaintiffs who have recovered money in asbestos cases, and it is important for every plaintiff making an asbestos claim to speak to their Boston mesothelioma lawyer about their health insurer’s rights to recover funds.
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Recently, Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy filed an asbestos exposure lawsuit, alleging that her lung cancer directly resulted from the time she spent as a youth washing the asbestos-covered clothing of her father and brothers.

Her claim has been met with broad cynicism because of the fact that she recently quit her pack-a-day cigarette habit.

Although our Boston mesothelioma attorneys have written before on the issue of asbestos litigation brought by smokers and former smokers (the cases are possible to win and a person’s choice to smoke doesn’t negate a manufacturer’s duty to warn), one of the more prominent issues we see here is that of the every exposure theory.
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In most types of injury litigation, the question of when the damages begin accruing is quite simple: At the time of the injury.

So if you’re involved in a car accident, you would be entitled to compensation for losses that began at the time the crash occurred.

mesothelioma lawsuits in Massachusetts are a bit more complicated, and the reason has to do with the nature of the disease and how it is contracted. The case of Kiser v. A.W. Chesterton Co., et al., reviewed recently by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, offers up a good illustration of the issues at hand.
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Mesothelioma lawyers in Boston know that victims of asbestos exposure face many challenges in collecting full compensation for mesothelioma, asbestosis or other injuries and health damage that is caused by exposure to asbestos. These challenges include the fact that many companies that produced asbestos have gone bankrupt, and the fact that lung cancer, mesothelioma and other asbestos-related illnesses typically do not develop for decades after the victim was initially exposed to the asbestos.

Unfortunately, as if these challenges weren’t enough for people who are seriously ill or who are dealing with the death of a loved one, the government is now trying to make things even harder for asbestos victims. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill this November called the Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act of 2013, or FACT for short.
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Asbestos lawsuits and claims related to mesothelioma and asbestosis continue to arise every day as more and more people get sick because they were exposed to asbestos at some point in their lives. Mesothelioma lawyers in Boston know that many plaintiffs face an uphill battle in obtaining full and fair compensation for serious illnesses caused by asbestos exposure, especially as many asbestos manufacturers have gone bankrupt or companies have gone out of business.

Still, plaintiffs continue to prevail in lawsuits and recover the funds they deserve. For example, several recent cases have brought good news for asbestos victims.
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Mesothelioma is an incurable cancer with a very low survival rate. Boston mesothelioma lawyers know that the average length of time a person survives with mesothelioma is just nine to 12 months. Because of the devastating consequences of a mesothelioma diagnosis, it is essential to do everything possible to avoid the risk factors that can result in the development of mesothelioma.

For most patients diagnosed with mesothelioma, the cause of their condition is exposure to asbestos. Asbestos is made of naturally occurring silicate fibers that, when breathed in, can become lodged in the lining of the lungs as well as in the stomach lining. The fibers cause irritation that, over decades, can eventually result in the development of mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis. Because of the tremendous risks associated with asbestos and the high fatality rates of those exposed, asbestos is largely banned from most products and is tightly regulated today. However, people continue to develop mesothelioma. One study recently took a look at whether this deadly cancer may be caused by taconite dust.
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