Mesothelioma Lawyers Blog

February 22, 2016

Widow Sues GE after Husband’s Asbestos-Related Death

According to a recent news article from the Madison Record, a widow in South Carolina has filed a lawsuit against General Electric after her husband died from malignant mesothelioma.

Court records indicate that she is suing in her personal capacity for a tort known as loss of consortium, and in the name of her husband’s estate, as she has been named the administrator (executor/executrix). She has alleged her husband was exposed to asbestos for much of his working life, and his occupational exposure to the deadly asbestos fibers occurred while working with products General Electric had manufactured. Continue reading

February 18, 2016

Asbestos Issues Delay St. Louis Arch Project and Cost $350,000

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

For those that have never seen the St. Louis Gateway Arch, it is hard to comprehend the scale of this magnificent landmark. In addition to the Arch itself, in which you can ride an elevator to the top and get a view of entire St. Louis area, there is an underground museum that is currently undergoing major construction.

While the work was initially going according to plan, work came to a standstill about three months ago when a contractor unintentionally cut into asbestos insulation that was surrounding an old steam pipe, as discussed in a recent news feature from the St. Louis Dispatch. Once the pipe was cut and the asbestos was detected, the entire work site had to be evacuated and all work had to stop at once. At this point, a certified asbestos abatement contractor was called in to the jobsite to perform a full assessment of the damage and to determine the next course of action. They soon discovered that this pipe had been cut by workers before the incident, which caused an evacuation work stoppage, and this other cut had been made about a month earlier. They were able to determine this based upon the location of the cut. This obviously caused fear among workers and project managers. Continue reading

February 15, 2016

Asbestos Causes Issues Keeping Vintage T Trolleys Running

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

While the Green Line trolleys on the MBTA system are relatively knew and mostly made in Europe, those who ride the trolley between Mattapan Square and Ashmont still ride the vintage Presidential Conference Cars. These are the old trolley cars painted orange and off-white that one would expect to be sitting in a transit museum instead of out on the tracks.

There are variety of reasons the trolley cars are still in use, but a lot of that goes to their being a piece of living history for residents and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) system in general. As it turns out, according to a recent news feature in the Dorchester Record, the fleet consists of ten trolley cars, and, of those, only six are usually in operating condition at any given time. These cars, which MTBA workers have nicknamed Mattapan Rattlers, are not easy to keep running, and lot of the problem has to do with getting parts. Continue reading

February 11, 2016

Bevacizumab Shown to Extend Survival of Some Mesothelioma Patients

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a rare and deadly form of cancer almost exclusively caused by exposure to asbestos, and it occurs in a layer of tissue lining the lungs known as the mesothelium. If the cancer occurs in the tissue lining the chest cavity, it is know as malignant pericardial mesothelioma, and if it occurs in stomach it is know as malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. However, it should be noted that all forms of malignant mesothelioma are very aggressive and can spread rapidly to other parts of the body, regardless of where the tumors initially form.

When a person first comes in contact with deadly asbestos fibers, they can become trapped in that layer of tissue known as the mesothelioma and eventually metastasize into malignant mesothelioma. This process can occur quickly, but in the vast majority of cases, it takes between 20 and 50 years for a patient to become detectably sick. Once this occurs, and the patient has noticeable symptoms, he or she is usually told there is only short time left to live. While there is no cure, there are drugs that can help extend this time period. Continue reading

February 6, 2016

Asbestos Found in Harvard University Dorm

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A recent news feature from The Harvard Crimson explains how asbestos was recently detected in an undergraduate dormitory known as Winthrop House and has caused at least one student to have to move out of his room and relocate to another dorm room.

The problems began last year when the student returned to his dorm room and found that a large piece of plaster form the ceiling above his closet had fallen and covered his clothing in dust during the process. This student contacted the residence hall staff, and a repair worker was dispatched to his room. When the worker arrived, he was concerned about asbestos and had a sample of the plaster tested at a materials lab. The lab confirmed the existence of asbestos. Continue reading

January 31, 2016

Problems with the Asbestos Abatement Process

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Many buildings in Boston, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the rest of the United States were built during an era when asbestos was used in virtually every aspect of production. While the asbestos was very dangerous to those who manufactured the products and to the workers who installed them, residents and occupants of the building are usually not at risk.

The reason for this is because asbestos is only dangerous when it is inhaled, and, if there is asbestos in the walls, for example, there is not much risk of inhaling the deadly fibers. However, if the fibers are disturbed, the asbestos can become friable, which means that it is capable of being crushed by the pressure of the human hand. Once this happens, it becomes very dangerous. Asbestos can become disturbed by neglect that allows a building to crumble, and it can be disturbed in the process of conducting renovations or demolition. Continue reading

January 26, 2016

Palmer v. 999 Quebec, Inc: Mesothelioma Litigation

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Palmer v. 999 Quebec, Inc, a case from the Supreme Court of North Dakota, involved a plaintiff who was born in 1955 and was raised in Duluth, Minnesota. He was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in 2011. He died four years later in 2015.

Kuettel, a predecessor in interest to the named defendant, supplied and installed insulation that contained large amounts of asbestos. Plaintiff’s father worked for this company for several years in the 1960s and 1970s when plaintiff was a child. Plaintiff alleged that he was routinely exposed to deadly asbestos fibers when his father would come home from work still covered with dust from the asbestos insulation products he was installing at commercial sites. Continue reading

January 23, 2016

Asbestos Risk Still Present in America

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Asbestos is a naturally occurring substance that humans have used for thousands of years, but it was not until the mid to late 1800s when asbestos began to be heavily mined and used in most every aspect of production. While the companies were well aware of the dangers of asbestos and even to steps to hide this fact, the general public did not know the full dangers of the hazardous material until the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Remarkably, those producing asbestos knew exactly how dangerous it was from the beginning. Amazingly, as asbestos was used for thousands of years, researchers have found ancient texts that translate into warnings about how the substance was making people sick after they came in contact with it. Now that everyone knows the dangers of inhaling asbestos fibers, we would all hope that malignant mesothelioma was a thing of the past, however according to a recent news report from U.S. News and World Report, the dangers of asbestos are “still lurking.” Continue reading

January 20, 2016

Couple Files Lawsuit for Husband’s Asbestosis

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent article in the Madison County Record, a couple is suing various defendants in connection with the husband’s exposure to deadly asbestos fibers and subsequent illness. The couple has named over 20 companies as defendants in the asbestos lawsuit.

In the plaintiffs’ complaint, they alleged husband became exposed to asbestos between 1962 and 1999, which constituted his working years. During this time, he worked as an auto mechanic and a pattern maker. In both occupations during that time, workers would regularly come in contact with deadly asbestos fibers. Continue reading

January 17, 2016

New Cryotherapy Treatment for Mesothelioma Patients in Development

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

If a person is exposed to deadly asbestos fibers, it normally takes between 20 and 50 years for the victim to know they have cancer. Once the cancer has reached a certain level, it will cause the victim to have chest or abdominal pain, in most cases, and cause shortness of breath. Many patents may think they are having a heart attack or some other type of illness and go to the doctor. Once the doctor confirms the patient has mesothelioma, which is easy to do when a lung biopsy is taken and sent to a lab, the patient will usually be told he or she has between six months and two years left to live, depending on how advanced the cancer has become.

This does not mean there are no treatments that can be performed for mesothelioma, but it would hard to consider any of the options anything close to what might be called a cure for malignant mesothelioma. All of the treatments are radical and invasive. Some involve high doses of chemotherapy or radiation, or more likely a combination of both. Many treatments involve major surgery to remove the tumors, along with all or part of the organ to which the tumors are attached. Continue reading