On the 15th anniversary to the 9/11 terror attacks in New York City and Washington, DC, Vice President Joe Biden choose to speak about how these events rocked our nation and about how the many rescue and recovery workers were exposed to a great deal of toxic dust, including some…
According to a recent news feature from WTAE, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has levied a fine against a major American steel producer after an investigation confirmed that the company had allegedly exposed its workers to deadly asbestos fibers. When asbestos dust is inhaled, the fibers can become…
Malignant mesothelioma is considered a rare disease. Compared to the number of people that get diagnosed with diabetes, for example, it is a very rare disease. However, to the roughly 3,000 people who are diagnosed in the United States with malignant mesothelioma and told they only have a short time…
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Stidham involved plaintiffs who were diagnosed with lung cancer that attempted to join a single lawsuit against the tobacco companies and the producers of asbestos and asbestos products. These plaintiffs asserted that their cancers were the result of both exposures to deadly asbestos fibers as…
As you may have heard, last month President Barack Obama signed a bill into law that allows the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to more easily ban toxic substances, including deadly asbestos fibers. This bill was one of the few bills in recent history that received bipartisan support. While…
Despite a ruling by the California Supreme Court in favor of defendant in Webb v. Special Electric, the case was still ultimately decided in favor of plaintiff upon remand. The state high court’s ruling in this asbestos injury lawsuit involved something called the “sophisticated intermediary doctrine.” This ruling provided an…
The New Jersey Supreme Court has expanded an earlier decision pertaining to “take-home toxic tort liability,” which is the assertion that companies can be responsible when their workers exposed to potentially harmful materials and take those materials home to their spouses. Now, in Schwartz v. Accuratus Corporation, justices ruled that…
The “every exposure” theory in asbestos litigation has been widely criticized and many judges have concluded it doesn’t pass muster in a court of law. The crux of it is that because no amount of exposure to asbestos is safe, every exposure to asbestos must be harmful. But simply showing…
Some defendants in asbestos litigation, facing crippling debt in the face of accountability for concealing the danger of their products and failing to protect the public, filed for bankruptcy and established trusts to pay out current and future claims. More than 100 companies have filed for bankruptcy protection due in…
A brake arcing machine manufacturer can be held accountable for toxic asbestos exposure to a mechanic, even though its product did not actually contain asbestos. These machines were used to grind asbestos-laden brake linings in auto mechanic shops throughout the country for decades. Defendant in the California case of Rondon v.…