Articles Posted in Asbestos Exposure

Asbestos is now know to be a deadly substance capable of causing a fatal medical condition know as mesothelioma, asbestosis, and other serious respiratory illness. The general public has known about the dangers of asbestos since the late 1970s, but companies who used and manufactured asbestos and asbestos-laden products knew long before that time.

These companies also knew it would take decades for workers exposed to asbestos to become sick, so they were willing to risk their health and safety for short term profits. While there have recently been many mesothelioma lawsuits, costing these companies and the successors in interest hundreds of millions of dollars and inducing bankruptcy in many cases, these companies were not concerned with anyone’s future.

Today, everyone knows asbestos can kill. However, not everyone knows how to identify asbestos, and what types of materials to avoid. In some cases, it is obvious to those trained what material contains asbestos, as there are some telltale signs. For example, 12″ by 12″ linoleum floor tiles manufactured prior to 1980 probably contain asbestos. Unfortunately, not everyone knows that, and there are many forms of asbestos that do not have any telltale signs, but since it was it so heavily used during much of the last century, asbestos is found nearly everywhere.
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When we send our young children to preschool each day, there are a lot of things about which we as parents worry. We are concerned our child may get hurt in an accident or fall. We worry they won’t get along with the other children, or that there could be fight.

But in this day and age, we generally don’t worry our child will come into direct contact with deadly asbestos dust. Unfortunately, according to a recent news article from Arlington Now, even this can happen.

School officials in charge recently sent a letter to all parents of children who attend a certain daycare facility, telling them they have confirmed the presence of asbestos dust in the school.

Aerosolized asbestos dust is can be the most dangerous form of asbestos exposure, depending on the quantity of asbestos particles in the air.

School officials immediately closed the facility and told parents they are looking for a suitable temporary site to run the daycare while the asbestos abatement work can be performed by a licensed asbestos removal contractor.
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Mesothelioma is a deadly disease for which there is no cure. There are treatments that can be used to extend a patient’s life for a matter of months, or, in the best cases, years. However, once a patient is diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, he or she usually only has a very short time left to live.

The reason for this is because of the manner in which asbestos affects the human body and how mesothelioma develops. Once a person is exposed to deadly asbestos fibers, these fibers can become trapped in a person’s lungs or other internal organs. They can become embedded in the lining of a protective layer of tissue known as the mesothelium.

At this point, the fibers are virtually impossible for doctors to detect early on. Even if they could, there is as of right now nothing doctors can do to remove them or treat a victim.

Over a relatively long period of time, about 20 to 50 years, the asbestos particles will metastasize into malignant mesothelioma. However, this is not to say all victims will be elderly by the time mesothelioma presents itself. There have been cases where young children were exposed to asbestos when their parents or other family member living with them came home from work covered in asbestos fibers. Children would hug their parents and breathe in the fibers.
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There is no question that malignant mesothelioma is extremely rare absent exposure to asbestos. Basically, if a doctor makes a diagnosis of mesothelioma, it is presumed in virtually every case the disease was caused by exposure to the toxic fibers. The next issue that comes up is finding out the source of exposure, and doctors will conduct an extensive work history of patients to determine when and where asbestos exposure occurred.

However, according to a recent article from the Madison-St. Claire Record, corporate defendants in mesothelioma injury lawsuits are trying to claim a certain genetic marker, if present in plaintiff, made this person significantly more likely to develop mesothelioma than those without the gene.

It is the BAP1 gene corporate defendants are saying makes a plaintiff much more likely to develop the deadly form of cancer. A researcher from the University of Hawaii believes BAP1 gene can increase the chance a person will develop mesothelioma and can actually cause mesothelioma. While this theory was first presented in 2011, this year is the first time lawyers are seeing it presented as a defense in mesothelioma cases.
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According to a recent report from Fairfield Daily Republic, one asbestos trial is garnering a lot of attention from corporate leaders. This trial involves a former shipyard worker who is dying of cancers caused by his occupational exposure to asbestos.

This trial is expected to take many weeks to complete and is seen by those in the industry as a measuring stick for how juries feel about asbestos and mesothelioma lawsuits. What makes this case different than many others is that this California county is well known for returning verdicts in favor of defendants. Plaintiff’s attorneys are hoping, and feel confident, this might not be the case when the jury finally reaches a verdict in this matter. Corporate defense lawyers filled the courtroom to watch opening statements and get a sense for what the jury was thinking.

As for the plaintiff himself, he is 68-years-old and was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in mid-2013. He was a machinist who worked on submarines and ships at a California shipyard before retiring in the early 1990s. During the course of his employment, he was routinely exposed to asbestos dust.
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Many people think mesothelioma is a type of lung cancer. While mesothelioma is a cancer that can occur in the lungs, it is not considered lung cancer. Mesothelioma occurs when a patient inhales asbestos fibers and those fibers become embedded in a layer of protective tissues known as the mesothelium.

Over a period of 20 to 50 years, these fibers can metastasize into malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma can be found in the lungs, chest, abdomen, and other organs where mesothelium is present and can spread to other organs where it is not.

While it is easy for doctors to distinguish mesothelioma from lung cancer, it is not always so easy to determine whether a patient is suffering from breast cancer or mesothelioma, according to a new study published in the World Journal of Surgical Oncology.

The new study began when a 49-year-old woman presented with a three-centimeter hard lump in the layers of tissue of her right breast. Oncologists performed a biopsy and sent the removed tissue to a laboratory so histology could be performed.
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