Mesothelioma News from Justice News Flash Los Angeles, California mesothelioma lawyer / news correspondent. (JusticeNewsFlash.com – Health Report) – Over the last few decades, various lawsuits have been filed due to mesothelioma diagnoses that have resulted from cases of asbestos exposure caused by employer negligence. ‘People who worked in shipyards, construction and building trades, and automotive and manufacturing industries in the 20th century seem to be at the greatest risk for contracting mesothelioma due to their prolonged exposure to asbestos fibers as a result of its use in their workplace.’ Inhaling asbestos fibers causes mesothelioma cancers. Asbestos fiber particles appear to have small barbs or hooks on the end of them, therefore once inhaled, are never removed. The barbed ends embed in the lining of various cavities and the tissue linings of the body and over time, eventually cause tumors. Most mesothelioma tumors are found in the lungs, but can affect other areas of the body.
An example of this can be seen in the following two cases. The first takes us to Ardrossan, Ayrshire in Scotland where a shipbuilder and painter was overexposed to asbestos during 1959 and 1973. And as common in many asbestos cases, the symptoms do not arise until many years later. In 2007, Mr. Renfrew began to experience shortness of breath and later that year was diagnosed with mesothelioma. During the lawsuit against Lithgows and Scott’s Shipbuilding was the issue of Mr. Renfrew’s life expectancy had he not developed mesothelioma. The longer he could have been expected to live, the greater the award of damages; he won £130,000.
Another case was found in Los Angeles, where a jury awarded $9.7 million to a Georgia man who said he developed mesothelioma after he was exposed to asbestos while serving as a Navy machinist’s mate aboard the USS Preble. Similar to Mr. Renfrew’s case, the mesothelioma takes twenty to fifty years to appear after the victim has been exposed to asbestos. According to Mesothelioma Watch, ‘the plaintiff blamed the disease on exposure to asbestos-packed gaskets while serving aboard the USS Preble from 1961 to 1965. In fact, about thirty percent of all mesothelioma sufferers in the U.S. are veterans; the large majority of those are men who worked on board a ship or in a Navy shipyard.’ Doctors testified during his trial that he probably has less than a year to live. Even though the jurors awarded Brewer and his wife $9.7 million, the couple will see much less. The defendant, gasket maker Crane Co. of Stamford, Conn., was 2 percent liable in the case, and the Navy was 50 percent liable for Brewer’s cancer, although it was not named as a defendant in the suit and was immune from any award.
These are dire cases in which both of the men should never have been exposed to the asbestos. It is difficult to know which buildings and areas of work contain the harmful particles, but it is the duty and obligation of the company to ensure that their workers have a safe working environment, especially one that does not cause cancer. Asbestos is even found in schools today, which poses an immediate threat to the nation’s children who have so much of their life ahead of them. Although each of the men in these cases was granted compensation, it is hardly true reparation for the damages caused to their health and the loss their family members will endure when they are gone.
(Source: Mesothelioma Watch)
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