Mesothelioma Cancer
Mesothelioma is a
form of cancer that attacks the linings of the lungs and the intestinal tract,
and also the sac covering the heart. It is also called epithelial mesothelioma,
as it affects the membrane in the pleura, the pericardium and the peritoneum. It
is not lung-cancer per se. The mesothelioma-lung cancer confusion has been
there earlier. Mesothelioma is merely a form of cancer that affects the lining
covering the lungs. It comes in three forms:
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Mesothelioma Cancer |
• Pleural
mesothelioma
• Peritoneal mesothelioma
• Pericardial mesothelioma
• Peritoneal mesothelioma
• Pericardial mesothelioma
Causes of Mesothelioma
The primary cause of
mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos. This can be direct exposure at the work
place, or secondary exposure (when the victim is exposed to asbestos through
coming in contact with someone who has already been exposed to asbestos).
Despite all the pain and the loss that the workers faced, there was some hope
in the form of legal recourse. Workers started suing the plants they worked in,
and soon the legal battle against mesothelioma reached epic proportions. Even
today, there are around 3,000 cases of mesothelioma being diagnosed in the
United States every year. While the treatment is painful and not always
successful, these mesothelioma victims at least have the hope of monetary
compensation to help them fight mesothelioma.
The first
manifestations of mesothelioma were seen as early as the 1950s and the 1960s.
At that time, the workers in plants and other work areas that used asbestos in
some form or the other were unaware of the lethal side of asbestos. The
management at these work areas – docks, industrial plants, equipment
manufacturers, and many more, the list is endless – soon came to know of the
adverse effects of asbestos. However, for some reason they kept quiet about it.
Their focus was on reduced costs and profits, it seems, and they remained mum
about the harmful effects that asbestos could have on their workers. Asbestos,
after all, had huge advantages over other material, which was why it was used
so much irrespective of the genre of industry. This over the years proved to be
a very, very costly error on their part.
Mesothelioma
Litigation – Did it Help?
The implications of
asbestos use are staggering, primarily because of the range of products it is
used in. From office buildings to toasters to car brakes to shipyards, asbestos
was used almost across the breadth of the industrial sector. A publication in
1935 by the American Journal of Cancer - Pulmonary Asbestosis: Carcinoma of the
Lung in Asbesto-Silicosis – first raised the suspicions of people from the
research and medical fields of the connection between the presence of asbestos
and the unusually high death rates and lung-related diseases in the industrial
sector. This connection was confirmed in 1955, and soon the continued use of asbestos
despite knowing about its deadlier side became a legal nightmare for the
industrial sector. Mesothelioma litigation in the United States has enabled
mesothelioma victims win hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawsuits from
their callous employers. It has been one of the successes in the battle against
mesothelioma indirectly, and against the irresponsible attitudes of the
management of workplaes that used asbestos, directly.
The Legal Aspect of Mesothelioma
Over the years, the
legal benefits that mesothelioma victims have received have been enormous. The
symptoms of mesothelioma manifest much after the initial inhalation of the
asbestos fibers. Mesothelioma treatment is also painful and expensive. The
compensations awarded to them have helped them at least cover their medical
expenses. Nowadays there are mesothelioma law firms – law firms that specialize
in mesothelioma. They have trained mesothelioma lawyers and mesothelioma
attorneys. These lawyers specialize in mesothelioma compensation cases.
It can happen that a
victim may shy away from legal recourse because they fel that they do not have
adequate financial support to pay the lawyer. However, this is a scenario they
need not worry about. All they have to do is contact a mesothelioma support group,
or a mesothelioma help group. These are present all over the United States. The
patient can also go online and put a search for mesothelioma legal assistance
cells by typing mesothelioma and then typing the name of the state or area they
are from in the search field of the search engine they are using. This is not a
fixed rule – they can type it in any order. For example – mesothelioma
California, mesothelioma Texas, mesothelioma lawyer texas, New York
mesothelioma, California mesothelioma lawyer, etc.
How are Mesothelioma Lawyers so Successful?
One of the basic
things in awarding compensation is for the judge or the jury to decide whether
the harm done was intentional, or whether it was the result of a choice the
victim made, in simple terms. In many cases, the circumstance of a victim is a
result of a choice he or she made. For example, in a smoking-related cancer
case, the choice to smoke was made by the victim. However, in the case of
mesothelioma, the situation is different. The circumstance of mesothelioma in
the victim could have been averted if only his employers had been more careful,
had made him aware about the risks the job entailed, and then let him choose,
besides providing him whatever protection required to prevent him from being
exposed to asbestos. This is one area that mesothelioma lawyers and
mesothelioma attorneys have been able to successfully work on.
After the initial
slew of mesothelioma cases and lawsuits, now laws are firmly in place to
safeguard the health interests of the worker. Besides, in the event of someone
actually suffering from mesothelioma, there are some guidelines towards seeking
legal redress for them as well. Mesothelioma law is strict and helps provide
fair verdicts in mesothelioma-related compensation cases.
Guidelines for Mesothelioma Victims Seeking Legal Action
The primary rule of
thumb while filing a mesothelioma lawsuit is that it has to be filed
immediately on diagnosis of the disease. In fact, in many of the states across
the United States, mesothelioma laws stipulating the timeframe within which a
lawsuit can be filed are in place. On diagnosis, you can contact a mesothelioma
lawyer through your local mesothelioma activists or mesothelioma group for more
mesothelioma information relating to lawsuits. The work of a mesothelioma
lawyer or mesothelioma attorney is not limited to just fighting your case. A
mesothelioma attorney usually has an extensive network of contacts – other
victims, mesothelioma case histories, good treatment facilities, nature of
treatment options available, in fact, for most mesothelioma-related
information. His specialization is a distinct advantage over a lawyer who
doesn’t have too much of an idea about mesothelioma.
The government is
also taking steps to ensure that workers are safe from exposure to asbestos.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has passed laws and regulations
stipulating safety measures and also has set in motion plans to ban and phase
out the use of asbestos as much as possible. You can find more information about
this at the EPA website – www.epa.gov.
You can also browse
the Internet for mesothelioma-related information, mesothelioma pictures, more
information on asbestos, etc.
Resources
• www.mesothelioma.org
• www.mesolink.org
• www.asbestosnews.com
• www.mesothelioma.org
• www.mesolink.org
• www.asbestosnews.com
The writer does
freelance writing work. Primary areas are keyword-rich articles (especially in
healthcare, insurance, credit), creative writing, blogposts, etc.
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