A former U.S. Navy officer, who developed terminal mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos on the ship that he served on for more than 20 years, has settled his asbestos cancer lawsuit mid-trial.

Plantiff Barry K. claimed his asbestos exposure began in the 1960s and continued throughout his service until he left the Navy in 1991. Barry did not notice symptoms of his illness until 2010, which is in line with the classic latency period for mesothelioma.

According to the asbestos mesothelioma lawsuit, in 2011 Barry was officially diagnosed with with peritoneal mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the membrane surrounding the abdominal organs. Mesothelioma comes only from exposure to asbestos, and Navy ships were filled with the insulation material in order to conserve energy and protect against fires.

Chemotherapy and other treatments have been useless against Barry’s asbestos cancer.

Barry settled his asbestos mesothelioma lawsuit against three defendants mid-trial. The named defendants included Puget Sound Commerce Center Inc. (previously known as Todd Shipyards Corp.), which built the ship on which Barry served, along with suppliers Crane Co. and Cleaver Brooks Inc. Barry previously settled with a fourth defendant, CBS Corp., a successor to Westinghouse Electric Corp.

Cleaver Brooks and Crane argued that the valves and other parts they supplied to the Navy contained little or no asbestos, or contained a different kind than the type that would have triggered Barry’s peritoneal mesothelioma.

The terms of the asbestos settlement are confidential.

Asbestos Exposure in Shipyards

Some occupations are associated with an elevated risk of asbestos exposure. Historically, naval shipyard workers are among the most frequently exposed to asbestos fibers. It is likely that workers who served between World War II and the Korean War came in contact with dangerous levels of asbestos, increasing their chances of developing diseases like asbestos-related lung cancer and mesothelioma.

From studies of people who were exposed to asbestos in factories and shipyards, we know that breathing high levels of asbestos fibers can lead to an increased risk of:

• Lung cancer
• Mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the chest and the abdominal cavity
• Asbestosis, in which the lungs become scarred with fibrous tissue

The risk of lung cancer and mesothelioma increases with the number of asbestos fibers inhaled. People who get asbestosis have usually been exposed to high levels of asbestos for a long time. The symptoms of these diseases do not usually appear until about 20 to 30 years after the first exposure to asbestos.

If you have an asbestos exposure claim and were diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, or asbestosis, an asbestos cancer lawsuit can help you recover the cost of medical bills, lost wages and other costs.

The Asbestos Mesothelioma Lawsuit is Case No: 3:11-cv-03240, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.