A medical View of Mesothelioma

Medical View of Mesothelioma

More than 8 million people have been exposed to asbestos and are at risk of succumbing to mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is caused when the mesothelium cells start to divide rapidly leading to cancer. The only known cause of mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos fibers. The disease has a very long latency period, sometimes even around 60 years. The disease has no known cure and death becomes inevitable.

It is also very hard to correctly diagnose the disease in the early stages, as the symptoms of the disease are similar to other non-malignant diseases like pneumonia. The asbestos fiber, which is light and invisible, is released during mining and manufacture of asbestos. It is inhaled easily through nose and mouth and affects the mesothelium lining of the body part that it comes into contact with. This sets off the mesothelium cells rapid division operation, resulting in tumors. The mesothelium lining can be found in the organs like lungs, abdomen and heart.

Depending on this, mesothelioma can be classified into three categories: § Pleural mesothelioma, which affects the lungs, § Peritoneal mesothelioma, which affects the abdomen, and § Pericardial mesothelioma, which affects the heart.

Due to the long latency period of the disease, people who have worked in asbestos-related factories in their youth may contract the disease in their old age during or after retirement. Many of them may have shifted many jobs by this time and they do not relate their condition to asbestos exposure. Thus, they do not consider mesothelioma as an occupational disease. They face huge sorrow at having to part with their loved ones in such a tragic way.

Life of Jack Daws

Jack Daws was working as a tutor in the rural regions of Pennsylvania. He had a beautiful wife and a handsome son. He had what is called as a perfect family! They were always supportive and co-operative. They had enduring love and constant hope on each other.

Jack Daws loved his job as he loved kids of all ages and all sizes. He was the coach of the local soccer team during weekends. When Jack was around 55 years, he was planning on getting a retirement from the school where he tutored in another year or two.

At this crucial point of time, Jack slowly started realizing something was wrong with his health. He felt a constant pain in his chest and severe shortness of breath. He, his family and his doctor dismissed all these symptoms as a cause of aging, initially. But, slowly, his condition started to worsen. He felt as if a heavy weight has been placed on his chest. Also, he started losing weight rapidly. By now, the doctor also started sensing that something was wrong with Jack. The doctor conducted a whole lot of tests on Jack. One of the tests that were conducted was to study the fluids & cells in his lungs. After this test, the doctor felt that it appeared cancerous. Further tests followed to make the right diagnosis. It was, finally, confirmed. Jack suffered from 'Pleural Mesothelioma', I.e. mesothelioma affecting the lungs. Doctors felt that Jack had only another year or two of life on earth. Jack started analyzing how he contracted mesothelioma. He had never worked in any asbestos-related industries. Slowly, it dawned on Jack. Lots of construction and painting work used to be done on in his school.

Due to his long career at the school, he was constantly exposed to asbestos dust, which was used during the painting work. The company, which did the job for the school, did not take any safeguards to protect, anyone. Jack was advised to initiate proceedings against the company. The company did not disclose the dangers of asbestos and behaved in a selfish profit-oriented manner.

When Jack initiated proceeding against the company, it was found that lots of people have already sued the company for the same reason and have won their cases. Thus, the Company did not want to go into lengthy and expensive legal proceedings. They agreed to go in for an out-of-court settlement. After negotiations, the company paid Jack around a million dollars for the health damages he suffered and around two million dollars for his family-dependents. Jack underwent treatment at a cancer center. The cancer was spread all around his body and surgery was ruled out for him. Jack underwent chemotherapy and lived a life of suffering for the next two years. After that he succumbed to the disease. However, his soul will rest in peace as he has provided a safe and comfortable settlement for his loving family members.

Mesothelioma Information

Mesothelioma is a terrible disease but it is very rare. The biggest event of recent times to effect Mesothelioma or Asbestos Cancer without doubt will be the 9/11 disaster.
Some claim millions will be affected by Asbestos fibers from the towers collapse. The World Trade Center took four years to build and the buildings were built between 1968 and 1972. Asbestos was mixed with Cement and sprayed on walls of the buildings this practice was often used in those times as a good fireproof barrier. It has to be said and is in fact common knowledge that a lot of Asbestos was used in the construction of these buildings. When this disaster happened everybody could see the vast amount of dust and within this dust was a lot of Asbestos.
Dust from the disaster was said to have travelled up to a 10 mile radius. Ask yourselves this how many people were within a 10 mile radius? 100's or maybe 1000's no millions more likely. About 20 years after World War 2 there was a major increase of people diagnosed with Mesothelioma.
The increase in diagnosed numbers could only have been put down to the excessive use of Asbestos used in ship building and other industries. Why did the use Asbestos? Well it was readily available and it had fantastic fireproofing qualities.

Facts About Lung Cancer

Cells are the building blocks of life. We understand very well that cells grow, divide, and multiply with the need of the body to keep it hale and healthy. Occasionally the cells will divide among themselves even though there is no need to multiply, and the mass of extra cells forms tumor or cancer. An unchecked and rapid growth of lung cells is called lung cancer. Lung cancer can be caught in two forms, non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer.

Lung cancer is categorized on the basis of the morphology of cells as seen under a microscope. Each type of lung cancer has spreads in different ways, and has its own method of treatment.

Non-small cell lung cancer, the more regularly occurring form of the disease, grows and spreads slowly. In this class there are three major kinds of cancer: large cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma.

Instances of small cell lung cancer are not so common as that of non-small lung cancer. This type of lung cancer spreads rapidly and may affect different organs of the body. This type of lung cancer is also known as oat cell cancer.

Recently, lung cancer was recognized as the deadliest form of cancer in many developed nations. It's estimated that 170,000 people die from the disease each year in the United States. Changes within the lung can begin almost immediately upon exposure to carcinogens, but lung cancer can take years to develop.

Inhaling the carcinogens found in cigarette smoke is the main cause of the lung in smokers and non-smokers alike. When there is an environmental exposure to radon compounded with smoking, the risk of lung cancer greatly increases. There is another type of lung cancer, known as mesothelioma, an occupational hazard among people who work around asbestos.

Lung cancer mostly affects people over fifty and who also had the habit of smoking for a quite long time. The lung cancer symptoms vary based upon the location of the tumor in the lungs. You may suspect lung cancer if you are experiencing chronic cough, chest pain, wheezing, and recurring lung infections.

An experienced health care professional can diagnose lung cancer based on symptoms, smoking history, medical history, earlier family history of lung cancer, and exposure to occupational and environmental materials. After the initial tests, an X-Ray can be used to make an affirmative diagnosis. Different tests are available to diagnose small cell or non-small lung cancer and to gauge the stage of the cancer. Medical professionals are also able to confirm whether the cancer is localized within the lung or has spread to other parts of the body.

Treatment of lung cancer may be done by chemotherapy (cancer cells can be eliminated by medications), radiation therapy (eliminating the cancer cells by high-dose X-rays or other high-energy rays), or surgery (cancer removal). Treatment of advanced stage lung cancer is considered difficult with moderate success rate in early stage treatment.

As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If you smoke, protect yourself from lung cancer by butting out for good. If you quit smoking now, you can gradually decrease your risk of cancer over the next 10 to 15 years as your lungs recover.

Why should you take legal action if you are diagnosed of Mesothelioma?

Why should you take legal action if you are diagnosed of Mesothelioma?

The reason why millions of people around the world are suffering from mesothelioma is very simple to understand. The only reason for this is the sheer negligence of the asbestos industrialists to safeguard their immediate society from asbestos hazards. They knew that the mining, manufacture and use of asbestos could create a lot of harm to the lives of many people. However, the short-term economic gain that they reaped made them blind to the long-term ill effects posed by asbestos on the health of individuals. This negligence on their part has resulted in the deaths of millions of people due to mesothelioma. Also, many more millions will succumb to this disease in the coming years. The main classes of people responsible for this negligence are listed below:

a) Asbestos mine owners: These people did nothing to protect their employees. They knew that asbestos mining was hazardous to health but they displayed complete negligence.

b) Factory owners: When asbestos is manufactured, lots of asbestos dust and asbestos fibers are released into the atmosphere. When the workers inhale these, they react adversely with the mesothelium cells in the body. The mesothelium cells start to divide rapidly. They also outlive the other cells leading to tumors. These tumors may also spread throughout the body. This condition is called as mesothelioma. Though the industrialists were aware of all this, they did nothing to safeguard the employees and their families. Thus, the workers carried asbestos dust on their clothes home. This was inhaled by their family members who also succumbed to the disease. Even a little bit of asbestos fiber inhaled once is enough to lead to mesothelioma.

c) Materials Producers: Various materials using asbestos were produced. The owners of these factories were aware of the hazards of asbestos and the substitutes available. However, they did nothing to protect their workers.

d) Insurance companies: There was medical evidence that asbestos was harmful to health. Still, the insurance companies continued to insure the asbestos industry.

Knowledge about the hazards of asbestos:

During the early 18th century itself, the hazards of asbestos were confirmed. Research and studies were done but the results were silenced and dismissed. The Ancient Greeks, who were the first to discover asbestos, also found that the mineral caused harm. The slaves wove asbestos into their clothing. The Greeks found that the lungs of these slaves were damaged and they doubted asbestos to be the cause of the mischief. After that, in the recent past, there were lots of studies that confirmed that asbestos caused lung disorders. Since mesothelioma has a very long latency period between asbestos exposure and onset of disease, the connection between asbestos and mesothelioma was not confirmed till the 1940s. However before the end of the 1930s itself, all the other asbestos-related diseases like asbestosis, fibrosis and asbestos warts were recognized and named. Only after this, slowly, the countries started banning asbestos. UK was the first country to ban asbestos. USA followed suit. Japan had a late awakening. Countries like India and China have still not banned asbestos completely.

Concealment of research results:

Lots of research was done to confirm the hazards of asbestos. However, the rich factory owners and miners concealed the results of the research. They provided no safeguards to the workers. They had no protective clothing, masks or proper ventilation. They had no choice of deciding whether to continue to work in these hazardous companies or not.

The above paragraphs help us to realize the hazards of asbestos and the cause of mesothelioma. This clarity is essential for you to realize that contracting mesothelioma is a danger you are facing because of the evil seeds sown by those few industrialists. Thus, it is your right to sue those evil and selfish people. They have knowingly exposed their employees to the potential risk of mesothelioma. The patients can file claims against employers, asbestos manufacturers and all others who are involved in the mining, manufacture and distribution of asbestos. They are bound to compensate the innocent mesothelioma patients for medical expenses, pain and suffering, emotional suffering, trauma, loss of quality of life and settlement for family members and dependents. Most of the mesothelioma lawyers don't charge any fees. They believe that the settlement given to you will bring a little comfort in this most difficult time and they do not want to spoil it in any way. Therefore, do not hesitate. It is in the best interest of all, if you file a case as soon as you realize you have mesothelioma.

Rights of mesothelioma patients

Rights of Mesothelioma patients

Most of the mesothelioma patients are ignorant and innocent. They do not know about the rights of action available to them. Ignorance about their legal rights makes it easy for the evil industrialists to prosper, harm and escape.

Mesothelioma patients should first realize that mesothelioma is a preventable disease; it is caused exclusively due to exposure to asbestos fibers. The industrialists involved in the mining, manufacture and use of asbestos products was well aware of the harmful effects of asbestos. The short-term economic gains from asbestos made them blind to the long-term harmful effects from asbestos. Because of this, millions of people around the World suffered while these few amassed fortunes. They did nothing to protect the workers, their families and the society. In fact, they caused much harm by trying to conceal important research reports on the harmful effects of mesothelioma. They tried to bribe authorities and threatened researchers to safeguard their profitable positions. Therefore, mesothelioma patients worldwide have a right to file suit against these evil people to compensate them for their medical expenses, pain and suffering.

Legal Rights: The law gives the following rights to mesothelioma patients against these people who have caused them harm. Every mesothelioma patient has a right to be compensated for all his or her medical expenditure. They do not have to bear even any small part of it.

They have a right to be compensated for all the pain and suffering they have undergone. Most of the times, it is the negligence of the employer or industry that has resulted in the person contracting mesothelioma. Even if you have very little time left on earth, you can opt for a huge compensation to enjoy that little life left or to safeguard the financial situation of your dependents. Immediate action is necessary in case of a mesothelioma diagnosis. File your case immediately using expert legal help. Mostly, mesothelioma lawyers do not charge any fees if they have not won any settlement for you. If they win a settlement, they usually charge a percentage of the settlement as their fees. Make all your paperwork ready before the case appears in court. Provide it to your lawyer and brief him in as detailed manner as possible. The data has to be very comprehensive and in depth. So, start early in compiling it.




There may be a situation in which you have no idea about how you contracted the disease. In this case, it is best to consult your lawyer who may be able to guide you in this matter. With his guidance, you can spot the factor that contributed to your contracting this disease. Then, you can proceed in the above stated manner. You have a duty towards your family and dependents and mesothelioma makes you feel guilty that you are unable to perform your duty. The settlement that you win out of your case will help in your children' education and in your spouses old age. So, file your case as soon as you are diagnosed with mesothelioma. The settlement will help your soul rest in peace.