• Tough choice looms for people suing over 9/11 health claims: to apply for gov’t aid or not (December 25, 2011): More than 1,600 people who filed lawsuits claiming that their health was ruined by dust and smoke from the collapsed World Trade Center must decide by Jan. 2 whether to keep fighting in court, or drop the litigation and apply for benefits from a government compensation fund. Although the fund would cover ailments such as asthma, scarred lungs and other respiratory system problems, patients who develop mesothelioma or other forms of cancer are not eligible for compensation.
• Asbestos victim awarded $2M in mesothelioma lawsuit (December 21, 2011): A New York man who was diagnosed with mesothelioma in December 2010 was awarded $2 million in a mesothelioma lawsuit filed against his former employer. Gerald Failing received the verdict after a jury found a materials company for responsible for exposing him to cancerous asbestos fibers.
• Settlement reached in Missouri mesothelioma lawsuit (December 15, 2011): A mesothelioma lawsuit filed against U.S. Engineering Co. in Missouri has been settled for $10 million. Nancy Lopez filed the lawsuit alleging that the company failed to follow proper procedures in removing asbestos from the courthouse where she worked.

Although some have reported that the number of new cases of malignant mesothelioma have fallen in recent years, projections by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Center for Health Statistics show the number of deaths from mesothelioma and asbestosis continuing to rise through at least 2016.

As a result of the rising number of mesothelioma lawsuits, many insurers and other companies who could be held liable for causing mesothelioma or other asbestos diseases have increased their financial reserves. Recently, American International Group announced that it was adding $1 billion to its reserves over its potential asbestos liability.

Although the asbestos industry continues to blame plaintiffs lawyers for the asbestos lawsuits filed against them, these cases are the result of decades of attempts to hide the truth about the hazards of asbestos exposure by the companies who made these products and their insurers. Insurance companies such as MetLife have been accused for decades of trying to hide information about the link between asbestos and diseases such as mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.

While insurers and asbestos makers would prefer to blame the victims in these cases, their right to fair compensation is one of the few remaining recourses they have after being permanently harmed by the actions of these corporations.

The free packet contains information about the latest treatments for mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases, resources for asbestos victims and their loved ones, information on how to obtain legal assistance from an attorney and instructions on how to receive free asbestos testing to determine if you or a loved one has been exposed to asbestos.

To receive your free mesothelioma information packet, please visit Mesothelioma Lawyers Hotline. After providing us with a small amount of information, a free packet will be shipped directly to your home.

Garlock, which is owned by parent company EnPro Industries, has manufactured gaskets, hydraulic components, metal seals and other sealing products for more than 100 years. According to its bankruptcy filing, Garlock states that it is spending $100 million per year to settle and defend asbestos lawsuits filed against the company.

Bondex is a subsidiary of RPM International, Inc. Many of the lawsuits currently facing the company stem from Reardon Co., which was acquired by Bondex in 1966. Reardon manufactured home repair products that contained asbestos until 1977. Bondex has asked the bankruptcy court judge to issue a permanent injunction to shield it against future asbestos lawsuits filed over products that it sold or manufactured. The company had previously set aside approximately $478 million to settle its asbestos-related liabilities.

Because neither Bondex nor Garlock’s bankruptcy plans have been approved, the injunctions sought by both companies to stay asbestos claims against them could potentially delay the resolution of these cases for years to come. Hopefully these two companies and the courts will move swiftly and in good faith to resolve the thousands of outstanding lawsuits before them and bring justice to the many victims of these products.

The case, Collins v. Plant Insulation Co. [PDF], was filed by family members of former Navy shipyard asbestos worker Ulysses Collins, who died in May 2005 from mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure.

Over a period of nearly 35 years, Collins was employed at several jobs that required him to work extensively with asbestos. These included four years as a boilermaker welder at a Standard Oil refinery and more than 30 years at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard and Mare Island Naval Shipyard, where he also worked as a welder.

At the close of evidence, plaintiffs moved for a directed verdict regarding the Navy, arguing fault could not be allocated to the service…. They claimed federal sovereign immunity precluded the Navy from being a ‘tortfeasor.’

Although the appellate court stated that “there is no dispute the Navy is immune from liability for plaintiffs’ asbestos claims,” it ruled that “the trial court erred in excluding the Navy from the list of entities as to which the jury could apportion fault.” The court remanded Collins’ lawsuit for a retrial to apportion fault among the Navy and other defendants already found liable by the jury.

While this ruling may at first seem like a victory for plaintiffs, because the U.S. Navy is entitled to sovereign immunity from prosecution, it cannot be held liable for damages, even if it is found to be portionately at fault for Collins’ injuries. Thus, the appellate court’s ruling—like the Texas Supreme Court’s 2007 ruling in Borg-Warner v. Flores [PDF]—ultimately will limit the ability of victims of mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases from receiving full and fair compensation for their injuries.