Asbestos & Mesothelioma Law Blog

New Hampshire State Senate Considers Bill to Restrict Legal Rights of Asbestos Cancer Victims

June 16, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

Despite state courts not having to deal with asbestos cancer lawsuits for quite some time, the New Hampshire state senate is poised to introduced proposed legislation that could seriously limit the legal rights of mesothelioma cancer victims. If passed, the proposed law would put New Hampshire in a group of over one dozen states that have passed so-called transparency acts aimed at slowing the pace of litigation and forcing plaintiffs to take legal steps they otherwise would not be obliged to.

In studying the issue, the New Hampshire state senate has created a study committee to “review the current compensation system specific to asbestos litigation and study ways to promote transparency, fairness, and timeliness of payment in the asbestos litigation system in New Hampshire.” Specifically, the study committee will look into whether or not mesothelioma cancer victims should be required to explore alternative avenues for compensation for their injuries.

Additionally, many of the asbestos tort reform bills being circulated around states legislatures require plaintiffs to disclose to courts whether or not they have filed claims for compensation from any asbestos administrative trusts in addition to filing a formal lawsuit. Many of the largest asbestos companies were required to create trusts for asbestos cancer victims to file claims as part of the business’ release of liability to file for federal bankruptcy protections.

Asbestos and its effect on pregnant women

June 11, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

We know the harmful effects that asbestos can have on people who have been exposed to it, breathing in the airborne fibers, and developing serious and likely fatal health ailments decades down the road.

Construction workers, machinists, firefighters, auto mechanics and power plant workers who often work with asbestos-related products may be more susceptible to asbestos-related illnesses. So can the typical family who may live in a house built before the 1980s as many such structures were made with asbestos-containing materials.

Infants: ‘Not likely to be exposed’

Kansas State Lawmakers Debate Bill to Limit Compensation for Asbestos Cancer Victims

May 31, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

Kansas state lawmakers recently took up debate in the legislature’s upper house over the passage of House Bill 2457, a law that could end up imposing serious restriction on the legal rights of asbestos cancer victims to recover vital compensation following a mesothelioma diagnosis. If approved, the bill would require mesothelioma patients to undertake a lengthy administrative and investigative process that could go beyond the time they have left.

In February 2018, the Kansas State House of Representatives passed their version of the bill with a 77-40 vote over the objections of advocates who claim the bill is necessary and places roadblocks to justice. House Bill 2457 is Supported by the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, a statewide business and industrial coalition in the state of Kansas that often creates pro-business legislation.

If passed, House Bill 2457 would require asbestos cancer victims to file all possible claims against other defendants in a 30-day window, allowing a jury to consider shared liability among sources of asbestos exposure. Often times, this includes filing administrative claims with asbestos bankruptcy trusts in lieu of formal lawsuits against solvent companies still doing business.

Radiation therapy could help mesothelioma treatments

May 16, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

The treatment options for mesothelioma have remained pretty constant throughout the last decade. Because of the aggressive nature of the cancer and number of cases discovered each year, new treatments are difficult to test.

Currently, the best-known option for fighting this cancer is chemotherapy. Unfortunately, chemotherapy’s effectiveness is different for each person.

However, a new article in the Oncology Nurse Advisor explores the role of radiation therapy in treating mesothelioma.

Why talk to an attorney after a mesothelioma diagnosis?

May 15, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

Mesothelioma is a serious disease with far-reaching consequences. Treatments can be expensive and time-intensive.

There are options available to victims of mesothelioma, and your situation could warrant taking legal action.

An experienced mesothelioma attorney can help you throughout the process, including:

New York Appeals Court Denies Motion by Asbestos Companies to Modify Damages for Cancer Victims

May 14, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

An intermediate appeals court in New York recently denied a motion brought forth by a group of asbestos product related companies attempting to challenge the types of damages cancer victims can recover and the state’s special asbestos court system as a whole. The appeal comes a year after the courts modified their case management orders to allow plaintiffs to recover punitive damages in mesothelioma cancer lawsuits and less than one month after a state jury handed down a record breaking $60 million plaintiff’s verdict.

The special asbestos court, known as the New York Court of Asbestos Litigation (NYCAL), is one of the country’s largest backlog of asbestos cancer cases and has created its own unique rules to help move along cases on the docket. One of those case management orders was an agreement with defendants to defer punitive damages in exchange for waivers of due process rights to allow cases to move more quickly through the courts.

Punitive damages are a special type of award meant to punish defendants for especially egregious conduct and serve as a type of warning to prevent other entities from engaging in similarly reckless behavior. The agreement between the asbestos companies and the courts had remained in place for almost two decades until 2014 when punitive damages were reintroduced by a Manhattan Supreme Court justice.

Illinois Asbestos Exposure Trial Underway

May 2, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

An asbestos cancer trial recently got under way in Circuit Court in Illinois over allegations thst the defendants knew about the asbestos contained in their products but did nothing to warn the plaintiff or others about the risk of asbestos exposure. The lawsuit names Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation, Inc. as the only remaining defendant in the case and seeks to recover compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages. As is common in many asbestos cancer lawsuits, the defendants would rather take their case to trial than accept responsibility for their negligence.

According to the asbestos cancer lawsuit, filed in St. Clair County, Illinois, the plaintiff began working for Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation soon after graduating high school in 1968, making a career out of it. The company was in the business of installing various types of insulation, including asbestos insulation, fiberglass insulation, foam insulation, and eventually asbestos abatement for other companies.

The asbestos cancer lawsuit claims that the defendant improperly removed asbestos at the company’s work site after investigators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigators determined the asbestos insulation covering pipes at the facility posed a health risk to workers. Testimony from one witness for the plaintiff claimed that Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation left behind large amounts of carcinogenic debris, which forced the evacuation of the facility on at least one occasion.

New Study Shows Immunotherapy Treatments Boost Survival Rates in Lung Cancer Patients

April 25, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

A recent study by pharmaceutical company Merck’s Keytruda division published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that when doctors implement immunotherapy in concert with standard chemotherapy treatments, the rates of survival for lung cancer patients greatly increase. The study is particularly good news for mesothelioma and other lung cancer patients whose prognoses are often significantly worse since symptoms do not present themselves until the cancer has metastasized and spread to other vital organs.

Also known as pembrolizumab, Keytruda has already been prescribed for some time now to patients who have a type of malignant cancer called non-small cell lung cancer, the principal form of lung cancer and found most commonly in people who smoked cigarettes. Merck decided to expand the study of Keytruda by prescribing the drug to other lung cancer patients who were not obvious candidates for the benefits expected from the drug.

The results of the study show that when immunotherapy is introduced, the rates for death or having the cancer worsen are cut almost in half, an incredible feat that could help more than 70,000 lung cancer patients in the United States. Other studies that included immunotherapy drugs Opdivo and Yervoy, developed by pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb, have come out showing the benefits of immunotherapy for advanced lung cancer patients. Opdivo and Yervoy were found to be especially effective in patients with cancers that have gene flaws the drugs can exploit to help the immune system attack.

Military servicemembers often suffer asbestos-related diseases

April 19, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

Our nation’s military personnel – those of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard – sacrifice much for the country. They endure rigorous training, months away from family, deployment to active combat zones, exposure to the elements, physical pain, exhaustion and more to safeguard our freedoms and keep us safe.

Even after their immediate service ends, some veterans continue to pay the price for the decision to join the military: they were exposed to asbestos while enlisted, and are now dealing with long-term health impact. Asbestos-related illnesses have been seen in vets who served many decades ago (during the Korean War or the Vietnam Conflict), and for those who fought in the more recent campaigns of Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

How were servicemembers exposed?

J&J and Talc Supplier Imerys Ordered to Pay Plaintiffs $80 Million in Punitive Damages

April 16, 2018 | Throneberry Law Group

After already handing down a $37 million verdict in favor of the plaintiffs at the conclusion of a two-month asbestos cancer trial, a New Jersey state jury recently handed down a staggering $80 million in punitive damages against the defendants. In reaching their decision, the jury determined that pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson and its talc supplier Imerys acted with recklessness when they produced asbestos-contaminated talc products knowing full well of the dangers posed to consumers.

The Middlesex County Superior Court jury apportioned $55 million of the punitive damages to be paid by Johnson & Johnson while Imerys will be responsible for the remaining $25 million in addition to compensatory damages already handed down. The verdict and awards are significant as it is the first plaintiff’s verdict against the defendants over allegations that the pair knowingly put thousands of innocent people at risk of developing mesothelioma and other serious forms of deadly cancer.

According to the plaintiff’s lawsuit, the victim developed mesothelioma from years of asbestos exposure due to using the tainted talcum powder products produced by the defendants. Mesothelioma is a rare and deadly form of cancer that commonly affects thin linings of tissues surrounding vital organs like the heart, lungs, and abdomen and is directly linked to asbestos exposure.