Mesothelioma Legal Rights
Asbestos exposure has been called a time bomb; the fuse is lit when a person is exposed to asbestos, and the bomb may go off many years later, in the form of asbestos-related diseases and cancers. Retired Navy personnel are at high risk of asbestos-related diseases. The only way to defuse the asbestos "time bomb" is regular medical monitoring.
ASBESTOS-CONTAINING PRODUCTS
Asbestos is a mineral fiber which was used in many products in construction from the 1920s through the 1970s. Some of the products which contained asbestos include steam pipe insulation, boiler insulation, asbestos cement, asbestos cloth, asbestos fireproofing spray (used on girders and beams of high-rises), asbestos ceiling and floor tiles, dry wall and dry wall taping compounds, gaskets and seals, roofing materials and mastics, and raw asbestos fibers, used for mixing with gun cements and other construction cement products. These products were used in the construction of ships, power plants, refineries, high-rises, schools, hospitals, military facilities, and commercial and residential buildings.
Persons found to have asbestos-related diseases and cancers may be entitled to substantial monetary damages from the asbestos manufacturers. The attorneys of Lewis & Scholnick specialize in asbestos cases, and have been helping asbestos victims and their families for many years.
Asbestos-related diseases generally take twenty to thirty years after first exposure to develop. Therefore, regular medical check-ups are important if you have been exposed in the past.
FORMER MILITARY SHIPBOARD PERSONNEL AT HIGH RISK
The asbestos-containing products described above were generally handled by civilian shipyard insulators, also known as laggers. However, these products were cut, mixed, and applied in the work areas of many Navy rates, including engine men, boiler technicians/tenders, electricians mates, shipfitters, and other rates assigned to fire watch during overhauls, exposing these persons to the lethal asbestos fibers. If you were on board ships, and assigned to work in the engine rooms or fire rooms on ships between World War II through the 1970s, you were exposed to asbestos. If you worked around asbestos for a number of years between World War II through the 1970s, you are at risk of developing asbestos-related disease or cancer, even if you have already retired.
ASBESTOS-RELATED DISEASES AND CANCERS
Asbestos exposure is the only known cause of a cancer condition known as malignant mesothelioma, which attacks the chest wall or stomach lining. Mesothelioma is a fast-acting cancer and is almost always fatal. Asbestos exposure is also linked to other forms of cancer, such as lung cancer.
Long-term exposure to asbestos causes asbestosis, a disabling lung disease in which scar tissue builds up in the lung tissue around the asbestos fibers which have been inhaled over the years.
LEGAL RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH ASBESTOS DISEASES
You do have substantial mesothelioma legal rights. Under California law, persons with asbestos-related diseases or cancers may sue the asbestos manufacturers to recover money damages for their injuries. It has been proven that the asbestos manufacturers knew since the 1920s that asbestos exposure was highly hazardous to humans, yet suppressed that information and made huge profits by selling asbestos-containing products. If you have an asbestos-related disease or cancer, such as mesothelioma, lung cancer (even if you were also a cigarette smoker), or asbestosis, the asbestos companies made their profits on your lungs, and you are entitled to substantial money damages.