New York Mesothelioma Incidence
If one has never dealt with the realities of watching a loved one die of mesothelioma, and if one is not aware of the high medical costs of taking care of a mesothelioma victim, then some of the headlines seen about mesothelioma and mesothelioma lawsuits in the state of New York will seem outrageous. These are some of the headlines;
-New York city awarded 40 million dollars in Asbestos Lawsuits
-New York jury awards 16 million dollars to three rail road workers in a mesothelioma lawsuit.
-Lawyers file mesothelioma lawsuit for three family members.
The truth is that the medical costs of treating this deadly disease runs into hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
Hundreds of people are diagnosed with mesothelioma every year. The sad but actual truth is that most industries that used asbestos used it, knowing fully well that they were exposing their workers to a very toxic and carcinogenic substance.
They purposely hid the dangers from the public in general and from their workers for decades. If those companies had made public what they what they knew about the substance and if they had provided the simplest of protection for their workers, thousands of husbands, fathers,and wives would not have have died in a painful, ugly manner that they died as result of mesothelioma.
What is Mesothelioma?
It is a form of cancer that is caused by exposure to asbestos fibers. It is, overall, a very rare form of cancer, but its incidence rises dramatically among those who work or have worked around asbestos. There have also been cases of mesothelioma among family members of those who worked with asbestos, and among residents of areas where factories and processing plants processed and mined asbestos and turned it into products that were sold nationally and internationally.
What is the basis of mesothelioma lawsuits?
Industry leaders have known since the early 1900s that exposure to asbestos dust often resulted in serious lung diseases. These companies chose to hide the dangers rather than protect their workers and the community from those dangers. Some of the larger companies went so far as to have their employees examined by company doctors and instructed the doctors to withhold diagnoses of lung disease from those who were ill.
Another company rejected a researcher’s suggestion that all workers who handled asbestos wear inexpensive paper filter masks because it would be bad for the company image and worry the workers. The history of deliberate neglect to preserve profits is documented in reports, memos, letters and files exchanged among the top executives and decision makers in those companies.
It is this history that is the basis of most lawsuits – that the industry knowingly and willfully ignored the knowledge of danger and put all of their workers at risk so that they could continue to profit from the sale of the dangerous substance. The fact that they knew of the danger and deliberately hid it from the public, their workers and the government makes them liable not only for compensation of medical expenses to those that were harmed, but for punitive damages as well.
What causes mesothelioma?
Exposure to asbestos has been undoubtedly linked to the development of mesothelioma. There is no other known cause, though there are certain factors that can increase the risk of developing mesothelioma. People that worked in industries where they handled asbestos in high quantities are most at risk, but there have been cases of the disease that were traced back to a few ,and sometimes even one single, exposure to asbestos dust. There are many of such industries in the state of New York, and there are many companies that manufactured products made with asbestos located in New York, and this probably accounts for the fact that there is a high incidence of mesothelioma cases in the state.
Anyone that worked in a New York shipyard, power plant or construction site during the 1970s and early 1980s, most likely was exposed to asbestos dust. Anyone that worked with cement pipes, wallboard, insulation, brake shoes, elevator brake shoes, fireproofing materials, fire curtains, adhesive compounds and many other products used in the construction industry, may have been exposed to asbestos. If you have a family member that worked in any of those industries or with those products, you may have been exposed to asbestos.
Your rights in a mesothelioma lawsuit;
If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, you can seek for compensation from those who were responsible for your exposure. It is your right to seek for compensation, so seek the services of a top mesothelioma lawyer in New York as soon as possible to discuss your case and the options available to you.
Showing posts with label asbestos law suits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label asbestos law suits. Show all posts
Mesothelimoa
Mesothelioma, more precisely malignant mesothelioma, is a rare form of cancer that develops from the protective lining that covers many of the body's internal organs, the mesothelium. It is usually caused by exposure to asbestos.[1]
Its most common site is the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and internal chest wall), but it may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity), the heart,[2] the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart) or tunica vaginalis.
Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or they have been exposed to asbestos dust and fiber in other ways. It has also been suggested that washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos can put a person at risk for developing mesothelioma.[3] Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking, but smoking greatly increases the risk of other asbestos-induced cancers.[4] Compensation via asbestos funds or lawsuits is an important issue in mesothelioma (see asbestos and the law).
The symptoms of mesothelioma include shortness of breath due to pleural effusion (fluid between the lung and the chest wall) or chest wall pain, and general symptoms such as weight loss. The diagnosis may be suspected with chest X-ray and CT scan, and is confirmed with a biopsy (tissue sample) and microscopic examination. A thoracoscopy (inserting a tube with a camera into the chest) can be used to take biopsies. It allows the introduction of substances such as talc to obliterate the pleural space (called pleurodesis), which prevents more fluid from accumulating and pressing on the lung. Despite treatment with chemotherapy, radiation therapy or sometimes surgery, the disease carries a poor prognosis. Research about screening tests for the early detection of mesothelioma is ongoing.
Signs and symptoms
Symptoms or signs of mesothelioma may not appear until 20 to 50 years (or more) after exposure to asbestos. Shortness of breath, cough, and pain in the chest due to an accumulation of fluid in the pleural space (pleural effusion) are often symptoms of pleural mesothelioma.
Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma include weight loss and cachexia, abdominal swelling and pain due to ascites (a buildup of fluid in the abdominal cavity). Other symptoms of Peritoneal Mesothelioma may include bowel obstruction, blood clotting abnormalities, anemia, and fever. If the cancer has spread beyond the mesothelium to other parts of the body, symptoms may include pain, trouble swallowing, or swelling of the neck or face.
These symptoms may be caused by mesothelioma or by other, less serious conditions.
Mesothelioma that affects the pleura can cause these signs and symptoms:
Chest wall pain
Pleural effusion, or fluid surrounding the lung
Shortness of breath
Fatigue or anemia
Wheezing, hoarseness, or cough
Blood in the sputum (fluid) coughed up (hemoptysis)
In severe cases, the person may have many tumor masses. The individual may develop a pneumothorax, or collapse of the lung. The disease may metastasize, or spread, to other parts of the body.
Tumors that affect the abdominal cavity often do not cause symptoms until they are at a late stage. Symptoms include:
Abdominal pain
Ascites, or an abnormal buildup of fluid in the abdomen
A mass in the abdomen
Problems with bowel function
Weight loss
In severe cases of the disease, the following signs and symptoms may be present:
Blood clots in the veins, which may cause thrombophlebitis
Disseminated intravascular coagulation, a disorder causing severe bleeding in many body organs
Jaundice, or yellowing of the eyes and skin
Low blood sugar level
Pleural effusion
Pulmonary emboli, or blood clots in the arteries of the lungs
Severe ascites
A mesothelioma does not usually spread to the bone, brain, or adrenal glands. Pleural tumors are usually found only on one side of the lungs.
Cause
Working with asbestos is the major risk factor for mesothelioma.[5] In the United States, asbestos is the major cause of malignant mesothelioma and has been considered "indisputably"[6] associated with the development of mesothelioma. Indeed, the relationship between asbestos and mesothelioma is so strong that many consider mesothelioma a “signal” or “sentinel” tumor.[7][8][9][10] A history of asbestos exposure exists in most cases. However, mesothelioma has been reported in some individuals without any known exposure to asbestos. In rare cases, mesothelioma has also been associated with irradiation, intrapleural thorium dioxide (Thorotrast), and inhalation of other fibrous silicates, such as erionite. Some studies suggest that simian virus 40 (SV40) may act as a cofactor in the development of mesothelioma.[11]
Asbestos was known in antiquity, but it wasn't mined and widely used commercially until the late 1800s. Its use greatly increased during World War II. Since the early 1940s, millions of American workers have been exposed to asbestos dust. Initially, the risks associated with asbestos exposure were not publicly known. However, an increased risk of developing mesothelioma was later found among shipyard workers, people who work in asbestos mines and mills, producers of asbestos products, workers in the heating and construction industries, and other tradespeople. Today, the official position of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the U.S. EPA is that protections and "permissible exposure limits" required by U.S. regulations, while adequate to prevent most asbestos-related non-malignant disease, they are not adequate to prevent or protect against asbestos-related cancers such as mesothelioma.[12] Likewise, the British Government's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states formally that any threshold for mesothelioma must be at a very low level and it is widely agreed that if any such threshold does exist at all, then it cannot currently be quantified. For practical purposes, therefore, HSE assumes that no such "safe" threshold exists. Others have noted as well that there is no evidence of a threshold level below which there is no risk of mesothelioma.[13] There appears to be a linear, dose-response relationship, with increasing dose producing increasing disease.[14] Nevertheless, mesothelioma may be related to brief, low level or indirect exposures to asbestos.[6] The dose necessary for effect appears to be lower for asbestos-induced mesothelioma than for pulmonary asbestosis or lung cancer.[6] Again, there is no known safe level of asbestos to asbestos as it relates to increased risk of mesothelioma.
The duration of exposure to asbestos causing mesothelioma can be short. For example, cases of mesothelioma have been documented with only 1–3 months of exposure.[15][16] People who work with asbestos wear personal protective equipment to lower their risk of exposure.
Latency, the time from first exposure to manifestation of disease, is prolonged in the case of mesothelioma. It is virtually never less than fifteen years and peaks at 30–40 years.[6] In a review of occupationally related mesothelioma cases, the median latency was 32 years.[17] Based upon the data from Peto et al, the risk of mesothelioma appears to increase to the third or fourth power from first exposure.[14]
Environmental exposures
Incidence of mesothelioma had been found to be higher in populations living near naturally occurring asbestos. For example, in central Cappadocia, Turkey, mesothelioma was causing 50% of all deaths in three small villages — Tuzköy, Karain and Sarıhıdır. Initially, this was attributed to erionite, a zeolite mineral with similar properties to asbestos, however, recently, detailed epidemiological investigation showed that erionite causes mesothelioma mostly in families with a genetic predisposition.[18][19] The documented presence of asbestos fibers in water supplies and food products has fostered concerns about the possible impact of long-term and, as yet, unknown exposure of the general population to these fibers.
[edit] Occupational
Exposure to asbestos fibers has been recognized as an occupational health hazard since the early 1900s. Numerous epidemiological studies have associated occupational exposure to asbestos with the development of pleural plaques, diffuse pleural thickening, asbestosis, carcinoma of the lung and larynx, gastrointestinal tumors, and diffuse malignant mesothelioma of the pleura and peritoneum. Asbestos has been widely used in many industrial products, including cement, brake linings, gaskets, roof shingles, flooring products, textiles, and insulation.
Commercial asbestos mining at Wittenoom, Western Australia, occurred between 1945 and 1966. A cohort study of miners employed at the mine reported that while no deaths occurred within the first 10 years after crocidolite exposure, 85 deaths attributable to mesothelioma had occurred by 1985. By 1994, 539 reported deaths due to mesothelioma had been reported in Western Australia.
Paraoccupational secondary exposure
Family members and others living with asbestos workers have an increased risk of developing mesothelioma, and possibly other asbestos related diseases.[20][21] This risk may be the result of exposure to asbestos dust brought home on the clothing and hair of asbestos workers. To reduce the chance of exposing family members to asbestos fibres, asbestos workers are usually required to shower and change their clothing before leaving the workplace.
Asbestos in buildings
Many building materials used in both public and domestic premises prior to the banning of asbestos may contain asbestos. Those performing renovation works or DIY activities may expose themselves to asbestos dust. In the UK use of Chrysotile asbestos was banned at the end of 1999. Brown and blue asbestos was banned in the UK around 1985. Buildings built or renovated prior to these dates may contain asbestos materials.
Its most common site is the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and internal chest wall), but it may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity), the heart,[2] the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart) or tunica vaginalis.
Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or they have been exposed to asbestos dust and fiber in other ways. It has also been suggested that washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos can put a person at risk for developing mesothelioma.[3] Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking, but smoking greatly increases the risk of other asbestos-induced cancers.[4] Compensation via asbestos funds or lawsuits is an important issue in mesothelioma (see asbestos and the law).
The symptoms of mesothelioma include shortness of breath due to pleural effusion (fluid between the lung and the chest wall) or chest wall pain, and general symptoms such as weight loss. The diagnosis may be suspected with chest X-ray and CT scan, and is confirmed with a biopsy (tissue sample) and microscopic examination. A thoracoscopy (inserting a tube with a camera into the chest) can be used to take biopsies. It allows the introduction of substances such as talc to obliterate the pleural space (called pleurodesis), which prevents more fluid from accumulating and pressing on the lung. Despite treatment with chemotherapy, radiation therapy or sometimes surgery, the disease carries a poor prognosis. Research about screening tests for the early detection of mesothelioma is ongoing.
Signs and symptoms
Symptoms or signs of mesothelioma may not appear until 20 to 50 years (or more) after exposure to asbestos. Shortness of breath, cough, and pain in the chest due to an accumulation of fluid in the pleural space (pleural effusion) are often symptoms of pleural mesothelioma.
Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma include weight loss and cachexia, abdominal swelling and pain due to ascites (a buildup of fluid in the abdominal cavity). Other symptoms of Peritoneal Mesothelioma may include bowel obstruction, blood clotting abnormalities, anemia, and fever. If the cancer has spread beyond the mesothelium to other parts of the body, symptoms may include pain, trouble swallowing, or swelling of the neck or face.
These symptoms may be caused by mesothelioma or by other, less serious conditions.
Mesothelioma that affects the pleura can cause these signs and symptoms:
Chest wall pain
Pleural effusion, or fluid surrounding the lung
Shortness of breath
Fatigue or anemia
Wheezing, hoarseness, or cough
Blood in the sputum (fluid) coughed up (hemoptysis)
In severe cases, the person may have many tumor masses. The individual may develop a pneumothorax, or collapse of the lung. The disease may metastasize, or spread, to other parts of the body.
Tumors that affect the abdominal cavity often do not cause symptoms until they are at a late stage. Symptoms include:
Abdominal pain
Ascites, or an abnormal buildup of fluid in the abdomen
A mass in the abdomen
Problems with bowel function
Weight loss
In severe cases of the disease, the following signs and symptoms may be present:
Blood clots in the veins, which may cause thrombophlebitis
Disseminated intravascular coagulation, a disorder causing severe bleeding in many body organs
Jaundice, or yellowing of the eyes and skin
Low blood sugar level
Pleural effusion
Pulmonary emboli, or blood clots in the arteries of the lungs
Severe ascites
A mesothelioma does not usually spread to the bone, brain, or adrenal glands. Pleural tumors are usually found only on one side of the lungs.
Cause
Working with asbestos is the major risk factor for mesothelioma.[5] In the United States, asbestos is the major cause of malignant mesothelioma and has been considered "indisputably"[6] associated with the development of mesothelioma. Indeed, the relationship between asbestos and mesothelioma is so strong that many consider mesothelioma a “signal” or “sentinel” tumor.[7][8][9][10] A history of asbestos exposure exists in most cases. However, mesothelioma has been reported in some individuals without any known exposure to asbestos. In rare cases, mesothelioma has also been associated with irradiation, intrapleural thorium dioxide (Thorotrast), and inhalation of other fibrous silicates, such as erionite. Some studies suggest that simian virus 40 (SV40) may act as a cofactor in the development of mesothelioma.[11]
Asbestos was known in antiquity, but it wasn't mined and widely used commercially until the late 1800s. Its use greatly increased during World War II. Since the early 1940s, millions of American workers have been exposed to asbestos dust. Initially, the risks associated with asbestos exposure were not publicly known. However, an increased risk of developing mesothelioma was later found among shipyard workers, people who work in asbestos mines and mills, producers of asbestos products, workers in the heating and construction industries, and other tradespeople. Today, the official position of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the U.S. EPA is that protections and "permissible exposure limits" required by U.S. regulations, while adequate to prevent most asbestos-related non-malignant disease, they are not adequate to prevent or protect against asbestos-related cancers such as mesothelioma.[12] Likewise, the British Government's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states formally that any threshold for mesothelioma must be at a very low level and it is widely agreed that if any such threshold does exist at all, then it cannot currently be quantified. For practical purposes, therefore, HSE assumes that no such "safe" threshold exists. Others have noted as well that there is no evidence of a threshold level below which there is no risk of mesothelioma.[13] There appears to be a linear, dose-response relationship, with increasing dose producing increasing disease.[14] Nevertheless, mesothelioma may be related to brief, low level or indirect exposures to asbestos.[6] The dose necessary for effect appears to be lower for asbestos-induced mesothelioma than for pulmonary asbestosis or lung cancer.[6] Again, there is no known safe level of asbestos to asbestos as it relates to increased risk of mesothelioma.
The duration of exposure to asbestos causing mesothelioma can be short. For example, cases of mesothelioma have been documented with only 1–3 months of exposure.[15][16] People who work with asbestos wear personal protective equipment to lower their risk of exposure.
Latency, the time from first exposure to manifestation of disease, is prolonged in the case of mesothelioma. It is virtually never less than fifteen years and peaks at 30–40 years.[6] In a review of occupationally related mesothelioma cases, the median latency was 32 years.[17] Based upon the data from Peto et al, the risk of mesothelioma appears to increase to the third or fourth power from first exposure.[14]
Environmental exposures
Incidence of mesothelioma had been found to be higher in populations living near naturally occurring asbestos. For example, in central Cappadocia, Turkey, mesothelioma was causing 50% of all deaths in three small villages — Tuzköy, Karain and Sarıhıdır. Initially, this was attributed to erionite, a zeolite mineral with similar properties to asbestos, however, recently, detailed epidemiological investigation showed that erionite causes mesothelioma mostly in families with a genetic predisposition.[18][19] The documented presence of asbestos fibers in water supplies and food products has fostered concerns about the possible impact of long-term and, as yet, unknown exposure of the general population to these fibers.
[edit] Occupational
Exposure to asbestos fibers has been recognized as an occupational health hazard since the early 1900s. Numerous epidemiological studies have associated occupational exposure to asbestos with the development of pleural plaques, diffuse pleural thickening, asbestosis, carcinoma of the lung and larynx, gastrointestinal tumors, and diffuse malignant mesothelioma of the pleura and peritoneum. Asbestos has been widely used in many industrial products, including cement, brake linings, gaskets, roof shingles, flooring products, textiles, and insulation.
Commercial asbestos mining at Wittenoom, Western Australia, occurred between 1945 and 1966. A cohort study of miners employed at the mine reported that while no deaths occurred within the first 10 years after crocidolite exposure, 85 deaths attributable to mesothelioma had occurred by 1985. By 1994, 539 reported deaths due to mesothelioma had been reported in Western Australia.
Paraoccupational secondary exposure
Family members and others living with asbestos workers have an increased risk of developing mesothelioma, and possibly other asbestos related diseases.[20][21] This risk may be the result of exposure to asbestos dust brought home on the clothing and hair of asbestos workers. To reduce the chance of exposing family members to asbestos fibres, asbestos workers are usually required to shower and change their clothing before leaving the workplace.
Asbestos in buildings
Many building materials used in both public and domestic premises prior to the banning of asbestos may contain asbestos. Those performing renovation works or DIY activities may expose themselves to asbestos dust. In the UK use of Chrysotile asbestos was banned at the end of 1999. Brown and blue asbestos was banned in the UK around 1985. Buildings built or renovated prior to these dates may contain asbestos materials.
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