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The History of Asbestos
Understanding
the history of asbestos is central to understanding why a
Mesothelioma victim is entitled to just compensation for damages.
If you have Mesothelioma, you are invariably a victim of asbestos,
a material whose danger was known as early as the 1930s. Many
asbestos manufacturers and corporate users of asbestos materials
ignored the scientific data showing asbestos's lethality.
In the end, workers who had to work with the material were
the ones who suffered. Today, those workers have a right to
fair compensation for their suffering and health bills.
Originally, asbestos was viewed as a miracle material. It
is an excellent insulator, a fireproof material, and inexpensive.
However, around the turn of the century, researchers noticed
that large numbers of deaths and lung problems in asbestos
mining towns.
A
known poison for 70 years
In the 1930's, major medical journals began featuring articles
that linked asbestos to cancer. In 1935, the American Journal
of Cancer published "Pulmonary Asbestosis: Carcinoma
of the Lung in Asbesto-Silicosis." In the following decades,
several major findings appeared in the Journal of the American
Medical Association (JAMA) and Lancet (the British equivalent
of JAMA).
Negligent
corporations poison workers
Despite the scientific evidence, companies continued to use
asbestos as a building material and in all parts of manufacturing.
Many materials, such as fiberglass insulation, were developed
to replace asbestos, but companies that used asbestos ignored
the (often more expensive) safer alternatives.
Asbestos is similar to tobacco in that it was a known carcinogen
and corporate executives ignored the danger for the sake of
profits. Asbestos, however, is much more dangerous than cigarette
smoke and the victims were largely exploited workers who were
unaware of the serious health risks they faced on a daily
basis.
American
legal justice
Given this history of corporate negligence, worker's sought
legal help prevent further poisoning of workers and seek compensation.
The first asbestos lawsuits were filed in 1929 and thousands
of lawsuits have been filed since against those responsible
for asbestos use and proliferation. This long history of litigation
in defense of workers has resulted in large settlements that
provide for Mesothelioma victims.
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