The Legal History of Mesothelioma

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The Legal History of Mesothelioma
http://www.mesotheliomawise.org/2008/the-legal-history-of-mesothelioma

Each year, approximately 2,000 to 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma are reported. In the past 20 years, the number of reported cases has increased significantly. Although it can take up to 50 years for symptoms to manifest, mesothelioma patients experience a host of symptoms. These include shortness of breath, or a wheezing and hacking cough which often lead to chest or abdominal pain. In the more serious stages of this disease, individuals may have bowel blockages, anaemia, a bloody cough, and jaundice. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to secure accurate statistics about how many individuals suffer from Mesothelioma because in the beginning stages, the symptoms are quite similar to various other conditions. This often leads to a misdiagnosis of the disease. In addition, when an accurate diagnosis is finally made, mesothelioma has typically already progressed to a more advanced stage. Mesothelioma is most often caused by previous exposure to asbestos. In fact, 70% to 80% of mesothelioma cases are caused by this type of exposure. In most cases, the infected person was either directly or indirectly exposed to asbestos and it may have happened when they worked in a factory or lived in an environment where the chemical was present. Commonly, the affected person was unaware of the asbestos. For instance, an employer could have taken over a site that was previously used by another company to produce asbestos related materials. One could be exposed simply by washing the clothes of an employee who worked there and was directly exposed to it. There are also numerous other ways that someone can be indirectly affected.There are many asbestos related products in our homes. In the past, some companies put asbestos in home insulation, carpet pads, and other products, even thought they realized that it was potentially dangerous. This can be dangerous news for the family who lives in one of these homes. Since the beginning of the 1900’s, it was recognized that asbestos was a workplace hazard. Between 1945 and 1966, a type of commercial asbestos mining took place in Western Australia. A group of the miners were tracked in a study, and after 10 years, there were no deaths that could be blamed on Mesothelioma. However, just nine years later, there were about 85 Mesothelioma related deaths in this evaluated group. Another nine years later, the mesothelioma death count of miners in the Western Australia group had risen to a staggering 539 deaths.

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