Eighteen people in West Virginia are preparing to sue one-hundred and forty-seven separate companies for asbestos related health issues according to Kanawah Circuit Court records. The complaints filed with the court claim that the companies’ negligent practices have caused serious health problems for the plaintiffs including mesothelioma among other asbestos related illnesses.
Mesothelioma, a terminal cancer caused almost exclusively by exposure to asbestos, attacks the soft lining of the body’s vital organs known as the mesothelium. When asbestos fibers are accidentally inhaled or ingested, they pass through many of the body’s tissues with ease due to their microscopic size and unique, hair-like shape. The fibers eventually become tangled in the sticky mesothelium, a tissue which lubricates organs to allow natural shifting and bending. The asbestos fibers cause a scarring reaction in the mesothelium which over years, decades or more, can cause the development of malignant tumors. Mesothelioma is a terminal disease with a grim prognosis averaging eighteen months of survival beyond diagnosis.
Asbestos products have been banned in much of the developed world. The United States, however, was unable to uphold a complete ban on the substance although it was attempted in the late 1980′s. The ban was lifted just two years after it was passed following a legal battle in which an asbestos manufacturing and distributing giant attacked and overturned the EPA’s asbestos ban on the grounds that it prevented the company from rightfully pursuing profits.
In spite of the failed asbestos ban, asbestos litigation in the United States has met with much success. Many companies who manufacture, distribute, supply, or purchase asbestos materials were aware of the substance’s dangers as early as the 1960′s, but failed to properly protect their employees. Individuals who have developed asbestos related diseases often pursue compensation from their former employer or their employer’s suppliers, and many have had favorable results.
While there is no cure for mesothelioma, increasing awareness in both the public, legal and medical sectors is working towards improving the disease’s prevention. Tightening state and federal restrictions, increasing pressure on asbestos product manufacturers, and an increasing public outcry concerning the production and distribution of asbestos materials are contributing towards eliminating mesothelioma in the United States and abroad.
The eighteen plaintiffs in West Virginia have claimed that the defendants failed to tell them about the dangers of asbestos, and knowingly put their health and well-being in danger.
