Marc P. Weingarten, a partner in the Philadelphia office of Locks Law and Joseph M. McGill, a senior associate in that office recently were successful in the jury trials in Philadelphia state court for two gentlemen who tragically died of mesothelioma. The cases were tried together, in a consolidated manner, before one jury. One man died of mesothelioma at the age of 93 and was awarded $492,000. The other gentleman died of mesothelioma at the age of 63 and was awarded $732,000. (more…)
The July 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) contains an article analyzing the 1999 to 2005 death rate from mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung caused by exposure to asbestos. The article is based on a report from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). 18,068 deaths attributed to mesothelioma were reported during that time period, with an increase from 2,482 deaths in 1999, to 2,704 in 2005. The JAMA article recommends that physicians should document the occupational history of all patients who are suspected to have and are confirmed to have mesothelioma. (more…)
On March 18, 2009, a New Jersey Appellate Court ruled against two companies which had tried to compel an autopsy of a man who had just died of mesothelioma. To make matters worse, the two companies, Honeywell and Chrysler, did this between the time his family and friends had just departed from Spotswood, New Jersey, gravesides services, and the time the man’s remains were to be buried. (more…)
Last Tuesday, Mitchell Cohen and Jennifer Troast from the Locks Law Firm won a victory in the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court. Their clients in this case are Spanish nationals who suffered asbestos related disease at the hands of the company Owens Illinois. The case involved more than a dozen consolidated Spanish clients who had worked to repair and renovate American war ships for the U.S. Navy while the ships were docked at a Spanish naval base. In the course of their work, the men encountered an asbestos containing product called Kaylo, a pipe covering or a block insulator, which was manufactured by the company Owens Illinois through 1958. The Kaylo product contained the harmful mineral asbestos. The men have since developed mesothelioma, asbestosis or other asbestos related diseases that can be definitively linked to asbestos exposure and traced back to their time aboard the American war ship. (more…)
