Mesothelioma: Legal Ramifications
A Brief Overview
Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that attacks the linings of
the lungs and the intestinal tract, and also the sac covering the heart. It is
also called epithelial mesothelioma, as it affects the membrane in the pleura,
the pericardium and the peritoneum. It is not lung-cancer per se. The
mesothelioma-lung cancer confusion has been there earlier. Mesothelioma is
merely a form of cancer that affects the lining covering the lungs. It comes in
three forms:
o Pleural mesothelioma
o Peritoneal mesothelioma
o Pericardial mesothelioma
Causes of Mesothelioma
The primary cause of mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos.
This can be direct exposure at the work place, or secondary exposure (when the
victim is exposed to asbestos through coming in contact with someone who has
already been exposed to asbestos). Despite all the pain and the loss that the
workers faced, there was some hope in the form of legal recourse. Workers
started suing the plants they worked in, and soon the legal battle against
mesothelioma reached epic proportions. Even today, there are around 3,000 cases
of mesothelioma being diagnosed in the United States every year. While the
treatment is painful and not always successful, these mesothelioma victims at
least have the hope of monetary compensation to help them fight mesothelioma.
The first manifestations of mesothelioma were seen as early
as the 1950s and the 1960s. At that time, the workers in plants and other work
areas that used asbestos in some form or the other were unaware of the lethal
side of asbestos. The management at these work areas - docks, industrial
plants, equipment manufacturers, and many more, the list is endless - soon came
to know of the adverse effects of asbestos. However, for some reason they kept
quiet about it. Their focus was on reduced costs and profits, it seems, and
they remained mum about the harmful effects that asbestos could have on their
workers. Asbestos, after all, had huge advantages over other material, which
was why it was used so much irrespective of the genre of industry. This over
the years proved to be a very, very costly error on their part.
Mesothelioma Litigation - Did it
Help?
The implications of asbestos use are staggering, primarily
because of the range of products it is used in. From office buildings to toasters
to car brakes to shipyards, asbestos was used almost across the breadth of the
industrial sector. A publication in 1935 by the American Journal of Cancer -
Pulmonary Asbestosis: Carcinoma of the Lung in Asbesto-Silicosis - first raised
the suspicions of people from the research and medical fields of the connection
between the presence of asbestos and the unusually high death rates and
lung-related diseases in the industrial sector. This connection was confirmed
in 1955, and soon the continued use of asbestos despite knowing about its
deadlier side became a legal nightmare for the industrial sector. Mesothelioma
litigation in the United States has enabled mesothelioma victims win hundreds
of thousands of dollars in lawsuits from their callous employers. It has been
one of the successes in the battle against mesothelioma indirectly, and against
the irresponsible attitudes of the management of workplaes that used asbestos,
directly.
The Legal Aspect of Mesothelioma
Over the years, the legal benefits that mesothelioma victims
have received have been enormous. The symptoms of mesothelioma manifest much
after the initial inhalation of the asbestos fibers. Mesothelioma treatment is
also painful and expensive. The compensations awarded to them have helped them
at least cover their medical expenses. Nowadays there are mesothelioma law
firms - law firms that specialize in mesothelioma. They have trained
mesothelioma lawyers and mesothelioma attorneys. These lawyers specialize in
mesothelioma compensation cases.
It can happen that a victim may shy away from legal recourse
because they fel that they do not have adequate financial support to pay the
lawyer. However, this is a scenario they need not worry about. All they have to
do is contact a mesothelioma support group, or a mesothelioma help group. These
are present all over the United States. The patient can also go online and put
a search for mesothelioma legal assistance cells by typing mesothelioma and
then typing the name of the state or area they are from in the search field of
the search engine they are using. This is not a fixed rule - they can type it
in any order. For example - mesothelioma California, mesothelioma Texas,
mesothelioma lawyer texas, New York mesothelioma, California mesothelioma
lawyer, etc.
How are Mesothelioma Lawyers so
Successful?
One of the basic things in awarding compensation is for the
judge or the jury to decide whether the harm done was intentional, or whether
it was the result of a choice the victim made, in simple terms. In many cases,
the circumstance of a victim is a result of a choice he or she made. For
example, in a smoking-related cancer case, the choice to smoke was made by the
victim. However, in the case of mesothelioma, the situation is different. The
circumstance of mesothelioma in the victim could have been averted if only his
employers had been more careful, had made him aware about the risks the job
entailed, and then let him choose, besides providing him whatever protection
required to prevent him from being exposed to asbestos. This is one area that
mesothelioma lawyers and mesothelioma attorneys have been able to successfully
work on.
After the initial slew of mesothelioma cases and lawsuits,
now laws are firmly in place to safeguard the health interests of the worker.
Besides, in the event of someone actually suffering from mesothelioma, there
are some guidelines towards seeking legal redress for them as well.
Mesothelioma law is strict and helps provide fair verdicts in
mesothelioma-related compensation cases.
Guidelines for Mesothelioma Victims
Seeking Legal Action
The primary rule of thumb while filing a mesothelioma
lawsuit is that it has to be filed immediately on diagnosis of the disease. In
fact, in many of the states across the United States, mesothelioma laws stipulating
the timeframe within which a lawsuit can be filed are in place. On diagnosis,
you can contact a mesothelioma lawyer through your local mesothelioma activists
or mesothelioma group for more mesothelioma information relating to lawsuits.
The work of a mesothelioma lawyer or mesothelioma attorney is not limited to
just fighting your case. A mesothelioma attorney usually has an extensive
network of contacts - other victims, mesothelioma case histories, good
treatment facilities, nature of treatment options available, in fact, for most
mesothelioma-related information. His specialization is a distinct advantage
over a lawyer who doesn't have too much of an idea about mesothelioma.
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