Asbestos Exposure and Wrongful Death Lawsuits: What to Know

Mesothelioma, a rare, aggressive, and usually fatal kind of cancer, could have up to a seventy-year latency period. Primary and secondary exposure victims who came into contact with asbestos in the 1960s and 1970s, when this mineral was widely used, may have fatal illnesses and not know it.

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If you believe that you were exposed to asbestos, even as a child, speak to a healthcare provider about tests and screening to help diagnose lung-scarring and screen for asbestos-related diseases.

The Asbestos Cover-Up and Wrongful Death

For decades, asbestos companies covered up what it knew about the dangers of its products.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the asbestos cover-up was still in full swing. Asbestos was so cheap and so effective that builders shrugged off, or ignored, the well-known health risks. 

Corporate memorandums show that asbestos executives decided to let their employees and consumers get sick, in order to ensure profits continued.

The asbestos exposure health threat didn’t end in the 1980s. New construction usually isn’t a problem now, although asbestos use is still legal in most cases. When workers demolish or renovate old buildings, they often come into contact with asbestos. Cross-contamination, such as asbestos-laced talcum powder, is an issue as well.

Tainted talcum powder causes ovarian cancer. Other cancer risks include laryngeal and bile duct cancer. Additionally, many non-malignant asbestos exposure injuries, like asbestosis, could be fatal.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

Asbestos exposure illnesses aren’t just fatal. They’re usually quickly fatal. For example, the average mesothelioma patient lives between four and eighteen months after diagnosis. The five-year survival rate is a mere 10 percent. Therefore, instead of a personal injury action, many families must file a wrongful death action.

Procedural Issues and Wrongful Death Lawsuits for Asbestos Claims

We’ll address the nuts and bolts of these legal claims below. First, we should deal with some procedural issues, such as who can file a wrongful death lawsuit and what compensation is available.

In some jurisdictions, the decedent’s personal administrator has the exclusive right to file a wrongful death action, If the decedent died intestate (without a will) or doesn’t have a personal representative for some other reason, a judge usually appoints one.

Other jurisdictions allow close relatives, usually spouses and/or children, to file wrongful death actions.

This legal point introduces an emotional point. Frequently, at least one child hesitates to file, or outright refuses to file, a wrongful death action. The child reasons, quite understandably, that a lawsuit and money will not bring back a mother or father.

That perspective is certainly true, but it also misses the point of legal representation and financial compensation in a wrongful death action. The company that intentionally or recklessly exposed people to a hazardous substance must face the music. Furthermore, and let’s be honest, money assuages grief.

Pecuniary Damages

Generally, pecuniary damages are available in wrongful death lawsuits. These damages include items like:

• Burial and funeral expenses,

• Lost future emotional support,

• Decedent’s final medical bills,

• Lost future financial support, and

• Decedent’s pain and suffering.

Survivors might be entitled to compensation for their own grief and suffering, under a theory like negligent infliction of emotional distress.

The health risks of asbestos exposure can include:

Legal Elements

Aside from the procedural and compensation differences, a wrongful death action is almost exactly like a negligent injury or failure to warn claim. These claims have four basic elements:

• Duty: 

Companies have a legal duty to warn customers about known product risks. These warnings must be clear and proportionate to the risk. Similarly, property owners usually have a legal duty to create safe and secure environments for invited commercial or social guests.

• Breach: 

A warning buried on a long list of side-effects that no one reads is not an effective warning. Property owners breach their duty of care if they knew about, or should have known about, the hazard, and didn’t promptly address it.

• Cause: 

Legal cause means foreseeability (possibility) of injury. Companies aren’t responsible for damages if a victim snorted asbestos fibers. Depending on the state, factual cause is substantial cause (leading cause) or but-for cause (more than 50 percent).

• Damages: 

This element of a negligence claim isn’t much of an issue in wrongful death cases.

People who worked in these industries prior the mid-1980s have a higher risk of developing asbestos-related diseases:

Construction	Factories	Foundries	Refineries	Shipyards	Mining / Milling
Demolition	Insulation	Steelworkers	Pipe Fitting	Shipbuilding	Mechanics
Roofing	Textiles	Iron workers	Boilers	Firefighting	Brake Repair
Flooring	Cement	Electricians	Gasket Repair	Railroad	HVAC

Unfortunately so do their families.

Second-hand asbestos exposure is asbestos exposure.

Secondary exposure victims, like a person who lived with an asbestos worker, usually file negligence claims. 

Primary (work or service-related) exposure victims, even wrongful death victims, usually pursue workers’ compensation or VA disability claims. Such claims are easier to prove in court, but less compensation is available

Second-hand asbestos exposure (Secondary Asbestos Exposure)

Even the workers’ families were affected due to secondhand exposure—asbestos fibers are extremely durable and can cling to skin and clothing, traveling great distances with those directly exposed.

Asbestos fibers have no taste or smell, and can be microscopic, so you may not realize you were breathing them.

Unfortunately, many workers’ families and other household members were exposed to asbestos as well, as asbestos was brought home daily in neighborhoods across the U.S. on work-clothing. 

This is often known as secondary or second-hand asbestos exposure (or domestic / household family asbestos exposure). In studies of asbestos disease, 1 in 5 cases of asbestos exposure were caused by secondary asbestos exposure.3

But spouses and children can also receive a share of the $30 Billion in asbestos trust compensation if they were exposed to asbestos brought into the house or family vehicle by a worker.

Evidence Needed

Cause is usually the key element in both negligence and non-negligence claims. Evidence on this point often includes:

• Medical records that clearly show asbestos exposure caused the decedent’s illness,

• Decedent’s proximity to an asbestos mine or other asbestos hotspot,

• Decedent’s family members (e.g. a spouse who worked construction), and

• Asbestos exposure illness clusters in that area.

This evidence not only builds a solid claim. It also refutes the comparative fault defense, which is the most common defense in negligence cases. This defense could come into play if a smoker develops mesothelioma or another asbestos-related lung cancer.

Even lifelong smokers can collect compensation for asbestos damage.

Many of our clients believed they weren’t eligible to file an asbestos lawsuit because they were cigarette and cigar smokers. This isn’t true under the laws of many states.  Our database contains the medical evidence needed to show that smokers who are exposed to asbestos are far more likely to develop cancer than smokers who weren’t exposed to asbestos. Cigarettes and asbestos are far more dangerous than cigarettes or asbestos.

Even lifelong smokers can collect compensation for asbestos damage.

Many of our clients believed they weren’t eligible to file an asbestos lawsuit because hey were cigarette and cigar smokers. This isn’t true under the laws of many states.  Our database contains the medical evidence needed to show that smokers who are exposed to asbestos are far more likely to develop cancer than smokers who weren’t exposed to asbestos. Cigarettes and asbestos are far more dangerous than cigarettes or asbestos.

The rules for a wrongful death lawsuit for asbestos injuries depends on where the lawsuit takes place.

Specific rules vary in different states. Usually, to obtain compensation, an asbestos exposure layer must prove that asbestos exposure was the but-for cause of the fatal illness, a concept we touched on above.

Furthermore, evidence generally maximizes compensation. Compelling evidence often means high damage awards. Marginal evidence often produces marginal results.

Do You Qualify For Compensation?

Quickly and easily find out how you were exposed by searching W.A.R.D., the largest asbestos database on the planet.

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Wrongful Death Actions and Victim Compensation Funds

As the number of lawsuits increased in the 1980s,rather than face the music as mentioned above, many asbestos companies filed bankruptcy. Federal judges allowed these companies to take the easy way out, if they contributed to large asbestos VCFs.

 

Asbestos Trusts: Asbestos Claim Compensation (without a lawsuit)

Many Asbestos Trusts will compensate loved ones of someone who died from an asbestos-related disease.

These claims are streamlined, since there’s no lawyer on the other side. They cost less and are less time-consuming than legal claims.

Over $30 Billion is still available (No lawsuit. No fees unless you receive money. No risk.) Stake your claim.

Unfortunately, not all bankruptcy trusts compensate wrongful death survivors. According to their terms, some only compensate living people with actual asbestos-related illness. Each VCF is different, so wrongful death compensation may still be available. 

Although there’s no layer on the other side, obtaining maximum compensation in a VCF claim involves much more than filing paperwork. Fund Administrators are usually tough negotiators. Without a tough asbestos exposure lawyer, survivors usually settle for less. That’s an outcome we’re unwilling to accept.

AsbestosClaims.Law

Asbestos claims aren’t just a day in the office for Justinian C. Lane. 

They’re a mission.

In the past, workers exposed to asbestos were kept in the dark about the dangers of asbestos exposure. Among those workers were Justinian’s grandparents and his own father. 

Unfortunately, they were also kept in the dark about the compensation options available to them, such as asbestos lawsuits and trust funds. In their later years, they died from asbestos-related cancers.  

Because no one in Justinian’s family knew their options, they never received any compensation for the death of their loved ones. 

Today, we’re working to turn the tide. 

Significant compensation may be available to you if you have contracted an asbestos-related illness or injury. This includes workers as well as family members who have been exposed. 

Compensation is your key to receiving the medical treatment you need, funding asbestos removal services, and maintaining your physical well-being. 

Want to know one of the quickest and easiest ways to receive compensation? Let us talk to you about asbestos trust claims. This option can often avoid lawsuits altogether.

We want to hear your story, and more importantly, we want to bring redemption to it. 

Need help filing a claim? No problem, you can email us at [email protected]. 

Would you rather talk over the phone? Simply call or text us, at (206) 455-9190. 

You won’t pay a penny to us unless you receive money first, so there’s no risk. 

In addition to legal claims, veterans disability, social security and employment protection like workers compensation, FELA and The Jones Act for maritime workers, there are asbestos trusts that have been set up to compensate those harmed by asbestos without having to file a lawsuit.

The dangers of asbestos used to be an industry-guarded secret kept from suffering people like Justinian’s family. Not anymore. We’re bringing you the truth.

We’ve created numerous resources to help answer your questions and empower you with the information you need to know and act on. 

Our website has a wealth of information dedicated to things like health and safety, asbestos testing, asbestos removal, and legal information about compensation for asbestos injuries.

Are you a visual learner? No problem! 

Our YouTube page has infographics, an asbestos history series, and other helpful resources for you to check out!

Not sure where or when you were exposed to asbestos?  Let W.A.R.D. help you! The Worldwide Asbestos Research Database (W.A.R.D) is the largest asbestos information database, period.  If you need answers related to specific locations, products, or what type of compensation may be available to you due to asbestos exposure, W.A.R.D. is the place to start.

Working with us is risk-free. Unless you receive compensation money, there are NO FEES! Speak to us about asbestos litigation today.

1 National Cancer Institute (NIH), Asbestos Fact Sheet.
2 National Cancer Institute (NIH), Asbestos Fact Sheet.
3 Tompa E, Kalcevich C, McLeod C, Lebeau M, Song C, McLeod K, et al. The economic burden of lung cancer and mesothelioma due to occupational and para-occupational asbestos exposure. Occup Environ Med 2017; 74: 816-22.