Asbestos Lawsuits

Learn more about asbestos and asbestos lawsuits. An asbestos lawsuit must be filed within the applicable statute of limitations.

MR. MITCHELL S. COHEN: Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral. It’s been used since really the time of the Greeks as an insulation material. Mesothelioma is one of the many cancers that asbestos can cause, in addition to lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancer. It’s somewhat different in that Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining in the chest cavity or in the abdominal cavity and in that way it’s unlike lung cancer. It is not caused by cigarette smoking and is virtually unknown except for people who have had asbestos exposure. The ways that you know that you’ve had this possible asbestos exposure is either if you are in the construction trades, you can assume that if you were working in or around buildings that were built prior to the early 1980’s, that you may have had some asbestos exposure. Certainly, if you’ve worked in the actual building of those places, you can assume that there was asbestos used. It’s also not unusual for a spouse, particularly of asbestos insulators, to develop Mesothelioma because, traditionally, it was shaking out the clothes in the laundry room and then inhaling the dust and fibers that came off the work clothes. It is very common for neighborhoods working or around asbestos plants to also have much higher rates of Mesothelioma than the general population. In terms of the rights that a victim has, it varies depending upon the nature of the disease process and it also depends upon the state in which the person lives. In Pennsylvania specifically, a person must show some breathing symptoms that are those that are traditionally associated with asbestos disease. A malignancy caused by asbestos disease, by in-and-of-itself, becomes actionable. Persons should consult with us to determine what their rights may be, certainly in terms of Pennsylvania or any of the other states where we practice. We are all multi-licensed in different states and we can give you a specific answer that’s appropriate for the state in which you live. Every state has a period of time in which you must bring a suit from when you knew or generally reasonably should have known that you were exposed to asbestos and may have a disease. That’s called a Statute of Limitations and you should be very quick to take any action of consulting with our firm once you’ve learned that you have an asbestos-related disease or some disease process that may have been related to prior asbestos exposure or you will lose your rights forever to file a claim in many instances.