Mesothelioma Lawyers

Posts Tagged ‘Lawsuits’

Cancer has become a big business. It is sad to say, but there have been many people who have found many different ways to profit from this terrible illness. There are many cancer charities that are not in the cancer for the business, but to actually find a cure or successful treatment or prevention system for cancer, but many organizations merely fund damage control, which can be costly and largely ineffective in preventing further cases of cancer. It is estimated that cancer donations total in the billions of dollars in America alone and the cost of treating cancer is an astronomical number of dollars. Pharmaceutical companies like Merck and Amgen reap huge profits off of their cancer treating drugs. Mesothelioma lawsuits reap huge payouts for the law firms that successfully litigate large compensatory settlements for their clients who have either died or will soon die from the terrible cancer that is mesothelioma. I often ask why there is so much money wasted in cancer research and treatment. This is such a terrible illness and I can not wrap my head around the fact that there are people who are comfortable in drawing six figure or higher salaries working on the administrative end of an organization such as the American Cancer Society. If you ask me the ones that should be drawing the biggest paychecks should be the doctors and researchers who are the foot soldiers in the war against cancer. Mesothelioma lawsuits, expensive treatments, and huge profit margins have made cancer a cash cow for some yet many still suffer. This is something that must change if we are ever to see cancer eradicated.
Courtesy of XViD

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In 2008 a case concerning a victim of mesothelioma was ruled on.  On December 4, 2008 the case was upheld by a New York Supreme Court, ruling in favor of the man afflicted with mesothelioma to the tune of five million dollars.  The case involved a Navy boilerman who served aboard the U.S.S. Roan in the 60s who had been exposed to asbestos during his time served on the Roan.  A boilerman is someone, sometimes known as a stoker, or fireman, that works in the steam or engine room.  The boilerman’s job is to keep fuel, most of the time it is coal, into the engine, or fire.  In the course of his time as a boilerman, the seamen was exposed to asbestos, thus triggering the onset of mesothelioma.  The case heard involved the boilerman, who was actually a Navy contractor, and the contracting employer.  The court ruled that the Foster-Wheeler, the company whose engines were installed on the Roan, knowingly hid the fact that the employees were being exposed to asbestos and that it was this exposure to asbestos that caused the plaintiffs mesothelioma.  This case was not really a landmark, but it was one of the biggest settlements in a mesothelioma related lawsuit in upstate New York as well as garnering more attention outside New York City for mesothelioma lawsuits.  The plaintiff had attempted to charge the Navy as an at fault party, but the Navy has immunity over any claims of health hazard lawsuits while on active duty.  This case is just one of many mesothelioma cases in which employers hid information and mesothelioma, which could have most likely been prevented, claimed another victim.

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Mesothelioma has the been the subject of a myriad of court cases all across the globe.  We live in an age now where workers have many more rights than they did at the beginning of the twentieth century, and you can nearly trace this fact through mesothelioma lawsuits and settlements.  Although nearly all of the cases regarding mesothelioma have to do with compensation for damages caused by exposure to a person without being forewarned by someone who had knowledge of the existence of asbestos in the area.  The earliest recorded court case regarding mesothelioma was heard in 1929 when a group of asbestos manufacturers was sued for not taking proper safety precautions in the use and handling of asbestos.  To this day asbestos is still the greatest and one of the only known causes of mesothelioma.  In the United States, mesothelioma lawsuits are the longest running tort.  To this day, Congress has yet to draft a law outlining the compensation for mesothelioma lawsuits.  Dangerous exposure to asbestos is preventable and there are extensive laws as to the handling, proper use, and manufacturing of asbestos.  This is only after years of workers and tenants being mislead as to their environment.  Mesothelioma cases are still being tried and mesothelioma still claims numerous victims each year.  With any luck, however, the legal battles and laws drafted will help curb this.

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