If one has never dealt with the realities of watching a loved one die of mesothelioma, and if one is not aware of the high medical costs of taking care of a mesothelioma victim, then some of the headlines seen about mesothelioma and mesothelioma lawsuits in the state of New York will seem outrageous. These are some of the headlines;
-New York city awarded 40 million dollars in Asbestos Lawsuits
-New York jury awards 16 million dollars to three rail road workers in a mesothelioma lawsuit.
-Lawyers file mesothelioma lawsuit for three family members.
The truth is that the medical costs of treating this deadly disease runs into hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
Hundreds of people are diagnosed with mesothelioma every year. The sad but actual truth is that most industries that used asbestos used it, knowing fully well that they were exposing their workers to a very toxic and carcinogenic substance.
They purposely hid the dangers from the public in general and from their workers for decades. If those companies had made public what they what they knew about the substance and if they had provided the simplest of protection for their workers, thousands of husbands, fathers,and wives would not have have died in a painful, ugly manner that they died as result of mesothelioma.
What is Mesothelioma?
It is a form of cancer that is caused by exposure to asbestos fibers. It is, overall, a very rare form of cancer, but its incidence rises dramatically among those who work or have worked around asbestos. There have also been cases of mesothelioma among family members of those who worked with asbestos, and among residents of areas where factories and processing plants processed and mined asbestos and turned it into products that were sold nationally and internationally.
What is the basis of mesothelioma lawsuits?
Industry leaders have known since the early 1900s that exposure to asbestos dust often resulted in serious lung diseases. These companies chose to hide the dangers rather than protect their workers and the community from those dangers. Some of the larger companies went so far as to have their employees examined by company doctors and instructed the doctors to withhold diagnoses of lung disease from those who were ill.
Another company rejected a researcher's suggestion that all workers who handled asbestos wear inexpensive paper filter masks because it would be bad for the company image and worry the workers. The history of deliberate neglect to preserve profits is documented in reports, memos, letters and files exchanged among the top executives and decision makers in those companies.
It is this history that is the basis of most lawsuits - that the industry knowingly and willfully ignor ed the knowledge of danger and put all of their workers at risk so that they could continue to profit from the sale of the dangerous substance. The fact that they knew of the danger and deliberately hid it from the public, their workers and the government makes them liable not only for compensation of medical expenses to those that were harmed, but for punitive damages as well.
What causes mesothelioma?
Exposure to asbestos has been undoubtedly linked to the development of mesothelioma. There is no other known cause, though there are certain factors that can increase the risk of developing mesothelioma. People that worked in industries where they handled asbestos in high quantities are most at risk, but there have been cases of the disease that were traced back to a few ,and sometimes even one single, exposure to asbestos dust. There are many of such industries in the state of New York, and there are many companies that manufactured products made wi th asbestos located in New York, and this probably accounts for the fact that there is a high incidence of mesothelioma cases in the state.
Anyone that worked in a New York shipyard, power plant or construction site during the 1970s and early 1980s, most likely was exposed to asbestos dust. Anyone that worked with cement pipes, wallboard, insulation, brake shoes, elevator brake shoes, fireproofing materials, fire curtains, adhesive compounds and many other products used in the construction industry, may have been exposed to asbestos. If you have a family member that worked in any of those industries or with those products, you may have been exposed to asbestos.
Your rights in a mesothelioma lawsuit;
If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, you can seek for compensation from those who were responsible for your exposure. It is your right to seek for compensation, so seek the services of a top mesot helioma lawyer in New York as soon as possible to discuss your case and the options available to you.
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