Why Is It Important to Hold Asbestos Companies Accountable?

Asbestos

Keep this thing in your mind that the disease of mesothelioma is a rare disease. It affects around 3,000 people per year, which is a low quantity if we compare it to the amount of people developed with other types of cancer, such as non asbestos related lung cancer or breast cancer. However, it is a rare disease, but it can affect anyone at anytime, if they’ve been exposed to asbestos. This disease can include children, stay at home parents, and people who’ve never worked around the dangerous circumstances.

The most common perception is that people are exposed to asbestos is through work. From a longer time of years, manufacturers are continuously supplying asbestos to companies and individuals, even though they were aware of the dangers of heath it will cause. Many companies and wholesalers that received asbestos products also knew of the dangers of this element, but due to greed of business, they chose to hide the toxic nature of asbestos and continued to allow their workers to be exposed daily with asbestos. While most workers had no idea that they were in danger zone and they are giving their lives up during work because it was a well-hidden secret by numerous businesses.

This kinda behavior was continued for decades, and unfortunately it is still happening today, after more than 20 years, the EPA placed strict regulations on the use of  asbestos. For example, during the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in New York City, documents revealed that federal officials downplayed the health risks of asbestos, which ended up hurting thousands of people who were already developed toxic illnesses.

In the year of 2015, a construction company was held responsible and fined $1.8 million for willingly allowing their workers to clean up a site that was contaminated with asbestos. The workers were mostly non-English speaking, and they had no idea they were working around asbestos, and they were never given the proper safety to protect themselves from asbestos toxic.

The first hint of asbestos that was dangerous dated back to the first century A.D., at that time the Romans made connections between fatal health issues and asbestos. Numerous other findings occurred throughout the years, most of which were public information, including:

• In 1900, a doctor practicing in London discovered asbestos fibers in a patient lungs and then he made the connection between asbestos and a textile worker dying from having asbestos fibers in his lungs. In 1934, a medical insurance company Aetna announced that asbestos-related illnesses were incurable.

• In 1948, the Trudeau Foundation for the Clinical and Experimental Study of Pulmonary Disease announced warnings of asbestosis. In 1949 some documents uncovered proved that Exxon company knew about the danger of asbestos, but continued to expose their workers.

• In 1958, Company National Gypsum provided warning that asbestos inhalation may cause lung disease. In 1968 a Bendix memo warned that people exposed to asbestos may die. In 1972 a Company Union Carbide urged the company to “act aggressively” regarding asbestos lawsuits and in 1973, more than 25,000 deaths occurred due to asbestos exposure

Despite the history of warnings stated above about asbestos, many companies simply ignore the danger of asbestos. As long as they were making a profit, they were willing to put the lives of workers in danger.

So many mesothelioma lawyers are just as angry as their clients, the victims and their families are about negligent asbestos exposure; exposure that could have been easily stopped by these companies, only if companies were more focused to follow safety instructions on helping their own workers instead of following their greed. 

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