You’ve seen television ads about mesothelioma lawsuits for years, but you’ve most likely never investigated the issue further. Maybe you just assumed that mesothelioma is a disease that affects older people, so it wasn’t something you need to worry about. The truth is that there are things that Millennials need to know about mesothelioma, a rare but deadly form of cancer.
Mesothelioma is caused by asbestos, a mineral comprised of a lattice of tiny fibers. When asbestos is disturbed, those fibers become airborne and can be inhaled or swallowed. While the use of asbestos is heavily regulated today, it was one of the most commonly used components in thousands of products for more than a century, and it’s still present in all sorts of places in our environment.
For instance, if you live in an older home or apartment building, you may have had to sign a notice informing you that the home likely contains asbestos.
As recently as the 1970s, nearly every item used in residential and commercial construction did. Asbestos has a wide variety of attributes, most notably the fact that it is extremely heat tolerant. It found its way into sheetrock, paint, shingles, plastics, insulation, furnaces, and flooring, among many other pieces of homes, factories, and offices.
The industries that mined it and placedit in their products went to great lengths over a period of decades to hide one critical fact: over time, asbestos can kill the people who work with it. The tiny, rigid fibers that make up the material are small enough that they can easily become lodged deep in the small airways of the lung, or swallowed and trapped in the lining of the gastro-intestinal tract.
The body’s lymphatic system may attempt to remove the fibers, but ultimately they may become trapped within the debris-removal system itself. Over time, asbestos fibers cause nearby cells irritation, then inflammation, and then, in some cases, cancer.
It’s been demonstrated that the companies most involved in asbestos mining and manufacture knew as far back as the 1920s that the mineral was devastating to the long-term health of their employees and, presumably, their customers. Rather than investigate how to mitigate the damage and protect human health, they buried reports and lied to the public for half a century or more.
Eventually, the evidence, and the volume of lawsuits against the companies, became impossible to ignore, and the staggering number of victims and their families forced courts and legislatures to create unique structures to ensure compensation for current and future victims of asbestos poisoning.
The asbestos bankruptcy trust instrument was devised to meet this need. Essentially, a company facing billions of dollars in legal liability from asbestos lawsuits would file for bankruptcy protection,and,as a condition of exiting that protection, a court would order it to create and fund a trust in perpetuity for its victims.
If you work in a trade like construction, roofing, or remodeling, it’s vital that you take extra precautions to protect yourself from asbestos exposure when working on older buildings. Even the weekend do-it-yourselfer making small changes in an older home needs to be aware of the danger to everyone in the home.
Whatever the project, make sure you take some time to learn how to tackle it safely when it comes to the risk of liberating asbestos into your home environment. The same goes for do-it-yourself auto repairs; some components, especially brake pads, include asbestos even now.
While asbestos has been tightly regulated for several decades, it is not banned outright, and there are still constant opportunities for asbestos exposure in many people’s daily lives. Mesothelioma isn’t the only negative health impact that asbestos exposure can cause.
There are a variety of cancers linked to exposure, as well as scarring and thickening of the lungs. The best way to take care of yourself as you age is to protect yourself when you’re young.
If you or a loved one do one day develop an asbestos-related disease like mesothelioma, there are certain legal rights available to you under federal and state laws. An experienced mesothelioma and asbestos-injury attorney in your area can help you get the financial compensation you deserve, while holding big companies accountable for decades of misconduct.
Louis Gertler is a Partner with the Gertler Law Firm in New Orleans, Louisiana. The law firm represents plaintiffs in personal injury matters and focuses on succession planning as well. The information above is not legal advice and we urge you to consult with a local attorney for advice regarding your individual situation.
Gertler Law Firm
935 Gravier Street,
Suite 1900
New Orleans, LA 70112
(504) 581-6411
www.neworleanspersonalinjury.com