Many companies, when faced with liability issues related to asbestos-linked diseases like mesothelioma, have chosen to protect themselves from lawsuits by filing for bankruptcy protection in US courts. Fortunately, when liability is a factor in these types of filings, the courts will order the company to set aside money in a mesothelioma trust fund to ensure that injured workers are able to obtain help in paying for mesothelioma treatment in Louisiana and elsewhere, while still allowing the company to reorganize itself and possibly emerge from bankruptcy protection in the future. To qualify for compensation from mesothelioma trust funds from companies who’ve filed for bankruptcy protection, you’ll have to provide evidence of several things. First, you’ll need proof of a medical diagnosis of an asbestos-related disease, like mesothelioma cancer. A physician will need to provide a statement confirming the diagnosis and providing any other pertinent information that may help your claim. Your doctor should…Read More
The men and women who worked to help rebuild the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina worked in difficult, and often dangerous, conditions for months on end. One of the potential risks they encountered is exposure to old building materials, including asbestos. The important thing that these workers should keep in mind is that mesothelioma is a relatively rare cancer, and that asbestos exposure during the Gulf Coast cleanup doesn’t automatically mean that they are destined to develop any diseases linked to it. At the same time, because mesothelioma has an incubation period of anywhere from 10-40 years, we’re approaching the time period where some individuals may start to become sick. People who know or suspect they’ve had exposure to asbestos should have conversations with their doctors about mesothelioma cancer and other asbestos-linked illnesses. Not all family physicians have seen mesothelioma, so ask your doctor to become informed and know…Read More
A doctor in the Veterans Administration healthcare system may or may not have more experience with mesothelioma patients than a civilian family practice physician, but where VA healthcare really makes a difference for veterans with mesothelioma is in the fact that vets have access to cancer and mesothelioma specialists throughout the entire network of VA hospitals. When your asbestos exposure was service-related, which is the case for many of America’s veterans, VA also offers benefits that can help you with travel costs and other incidentals necessary to get the treatment you need to fight mesothelioma. Millions of servicemembers were exposed to asbestos over the course of many decades, as the military and many civilian industries relied on the fibers for fireproofing and insulation. Shipbuilders, pipefitters, construction specialties, automotive maintenance, and demolition work, among many others, has exposed soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines to miniscule airborne asbestos fibers, which when inhaled…Read More
Shortly After His Funeral, I Found A Signed Will Made Before Our Marriage And Lawsuit. Does This Will Affect My Rights? Our deepest condolences. Since the will was made prior to your marriage, and the mesothelioma lawsuit was filed afterward, you may be entitled to a legal share from his probate estate. However, an attorney would want to review the executed retainer agreement to determine the portion of your husband’s estate that you are entitled to claim under state law. We recommend that you contact a probate attorney for more information to assert a claim. Give us a call at the Gertler Law Firm – (504) 527-8767.Read More
Mesothelioma is a form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, usually in the workplace, which can take many decades to develop. Because of this, most mesothelioma patients are older, and often have other health issues that they are dealing with. Making the job of diagnosis more difficult is the fact that early signs of mesothelioma are often vague and can appear to be any of a number of normal health problems that don’t necessarily raise red flags for doctors. Most instances of mesothelioma develop in the lungs of former workers at contaminated sites who breathed in tiny fibers of asbestos, some of which became lodged in the small airways of the lungs. This is known as pleural mesothelioma, and is often diagnosed in later stages by doctors. Early symptoms of pleural mesothelioma can include things like a dry cough, low back pain, fatigue, or weight loss, and all of these symptoms…Read More
Asbestos was widely used in New Orleans shipyards and other industries throughout much of the twentieth century. Unfortunately, this has led to a large number of workers contracting mesothelioma – a frequently fatal cancer caused through inhalation of asbestos particles. Whether an employer may be pursued through a personal injury lawsuit for this exposure, however, may depend on the timing of the exposure. This is because in 1975, the Louisiana Legislature changed the laws surrounding when an employee may sue an employer by amending the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Act. The Louisiana Worker’s Compensation Act provides that certain work-related injuries may only be compensated through workers’ compensation payments. Employers are immune from tort suits for such injuries. Prior to 1975, the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Act included a list of specific occupational diseases covered under the act. This list did not include mesothelioma. In 1975, the list was abandoned in favor of…Read More
Mesothelioma, in Louisiana and elsewhere in America and around the globe, has just one cause: exposure to a naturally occurring mineral called asbestos, which until recent decades was used in a number of industrial and commercial applications. Asbestos is a pliable, fibrous mineral that can be fabricated into various shapes and forms, and it has insulation properties that are superior to other options on the market. Even today, when asbestos is highly regulated as a matter of public safety, some applications like brake pads for vehicles still rely on asbestos because of the quality of its fireproofing and heat control. There are a lot of myths about the causes of mesothelioma, including efforts by asbestos makers to promote the idea that smoking can cause mesothelioma. This is a way for them downplay the danger of their product, and to shift responsibility from their own worksites, where most asbestos exposure occurred and…Read More
While an exact number of Military Veterans in Louisiana, or veterans who worked in Louisiana during their careers, who have developed mesothelioma isn’t known. In the United States, about a third of reported cases of mesothelioma are among Veterans. Navy Veterans in particular have a high risk for developing mesothelioma, because asbestos was widely used as an insulator throughout Navy ships for decades until it began being phased out for safety reasons in the 1970s and 1980s. Because of the high number of Veterans who develop mesothelioma, the Veterans Administration has created a claims process to provide benefits to Veterans whose exposure happened in the course of their military service. Exposure wasn’t just among Navy personnel – members of the Army, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard routinely dealt with asbestos-containing materials throughout their service prior to the 1970s and 1980s, with members of all branches potentially affected. Some occupations are considered…Read More
Whether an employer owes a duty to a worker’s household member who develops mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos fibers carried home on work clothes has been a highly contested issue. There have been several cases across the country in which compensation has been sought for family members who, for example, laundered work clothes contaminated with asbestos and later developed mesothelioma. Fortunately for New Orleans families, Louisiana courts have tended to extend the right to pursue damages to family members who contract this deadly disease. In Zimko v. Am. Cyanamid, So. 2d 465 (La. 4th Ct. App. 2005), the defendant was being sued on behalf of an employee’s household member who contracted mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos fibers carried home on the employee. The Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the employer’s “duty is the general duty to act reasonably in view of the foreseeable risks…Read More
According to The American Lung Association, asbestos-related cancers like mesothelioma typically develop between 35 and 50 years after asbestos exposure, but because most asbestos exposure is work-related, and most cases of mesothelioma develop in populations who worked with asbestos for long periods of time, it is impossible to predict when, or whether, an individual may develop mesothelioma. While the majority of mesothelioma cases in Louisiana and around the country occur in people over the age of 50, there are numerous examples of younger people who’ve developed the disease as well. Children who had a parent working in asbestos-rich environments like shipbuilding or various manufacturing and construction jobs in and around Louisiana often got daily exposure when the parent returned from work in clothing saturated with asbestos fibers. Mesothelioma develops at different rates in different people, and the mechanism for this isn’t well understood. Genes likely play a role in determining who…Read More
