Asbestos Victims Under Attack by Proposed Asbestos Legislation

Asbestos-exposed individuals have a high risk of developing mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, or other asbestos-related diseases.

Woodland Hills, CA July 21, 2004 -- Mesothelioma Advisor has released a new report on proposed legislation that will negatively impact asbestos victims, available at http://www.mesothelioma-advisor.org/article-1.php . The article was written by Eric N. Scholnick, Attorney at Law.

Asbestos Victims Under Attack by Proposed Asbestos Legislation

It has recently been reported, in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, among others, that thousands of allegedly unimpaired individuals are filing asbestos personal injury lawsuits. These news reports state that these asbestos claims may threaten the financial well-being of numerous large corporations. Corporate and insurance company officials are quoted on the need for federal legislation, to control asbestos cases. In their words, they want to make sure money goes to those who are truly sick.

It is important to see the big lie behind these news stories.

Persons who have suffered a detriment at the hands of another are entitled to seek redress in our courts. There has never been a requirement that persons be impaired or disabled in order to seek redress; it is enough that they are injured. The presence of greatly elevated levels of asbestos fibers in ones lungs is clearly a detriment. Most persons who have never been heavily exposed to asbestos would never trade lungs with a Navy veteran, even if that Navy veteran had not yet suffered an impairment or disability. Asbestos-exposed individuals have a far greater risk of developing mesothelioma (a cancer of the lung or stomach lining), lung cancer, or asbestosis later in life. It should be left to juries to decide if the presence of those fibers constitutes an injury under the law.

Access to our judicial system is an important right; the judicial system protects Americans from large corporations who sell unsafe products, and conceal the dangers of those products from the public.

Instead, the large corporations which brought the asbestos nightmare upon us, and their insurance companies, now seek federal legislation, to restrict access to, or take the place of, the American jury system. The legislation which has thus far been proposed would appoint a board of review, and make it mandatory that any asbestos case be reviewed by the board to determine if any individual had a right to compensation. All cases would be delayed, so that some claimants would die before their cases could be reviewed, and most cases would be rejected.

The reason for this proposal should be obvious. After years of consistently losing before juries, the asbestos companies, and insurance companies, are once again watching out for the almighty dollar, over the rights of injured persons. This is exactly what these companies did in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, and later, as they did all they could to keep their knowledge of asbestos hazards from being made public.

The corporations and insurance companies say they want to make sure that badly injured individuals receive compensation. This is hypocritical, as these same companies have fought, and lost, valid claims for decades. Now, all of a sudden, they say theyre concerned about victims. Dont believe them.

The number of asbestos claims is not slowing down largely because the asbestos companies kept selling asbestos products, even into the 1980s. They lied to their customers, saying the products were safe, and kept asbestos products in the market long after they should have been gone.