Doris W. of Kentucky is suing several manufacturing and electric companies after contracting mesothelioma. In her asbestos mesothelioma lawsuit, Doris claims that as a direct result of the asbestos fibers that attached to her former husband’s clothes from various job sites, she developed this rare and severe form of lung cancer.

Asbestos mesothelioma develops when the thin layer of tissue surrounding the lungs is attacked by cancer cells, which is specifically caused by the victims’ inhalation of asbestos fibers. The defendants named in the asbestos mesothelioma lawsuit include General Electric, Big Rivers Electric Corp, Alcoa, Triangle Insulation, Sheet Metal Co., Domtar Inc., Goodrich, Goodyear Tire and Rubber, Indianapolis Light and Energy, and other businesses. According to Doris, her former husband once worked at each and every one of the electric companies and manufacturers listed above.

Despite being only filed in October 2014, this mesothelioma lawsuit already has eight volumes of businesses issue requests, counter-requests, responses, and depositions. The plaintiff’s lawyer states that Doris contracted asbestos mesothelioma from second-hand asbestos exposure, after inhaling them from her former husband’s clothing. Doris’ former husband worked for many years as a pipe insulator. While the plaintiff divorced her husband Ronald E. in 1985, the asbestos problems from those times remain in her present life in the form of asbestos mesothelioma lung cancer. Additionally, Ronald had also allegedly contracted an asbestos-related disease known as asbestosis. He filed his own asbestos lawsuit against Owens-Corning Fiberglass Corp in 1996.

Doris’ asbestos mesothelioma lawsuit claims that each of the named defendants knew about the health hazards asbestos presented to its employees, but failed to take any precautionary measures on behalf of herself, her former husband, and other insulation workers. Both Doris and Ronald allege that he was exposed to asbestos on a daily basis, with the General Electric and other companies being fully aware that their products contained vast amounts of the harmful material. While Ronald suffered exposure, Doris is one of the many others who suffered second-hand exposure after handling his clothing for laundry and other purposes.

Doris was diagnosed with mesothelioma last summer after she sought medical attention for fatigue and shortness of breath. Subsequent chest X-rays revealed fluid in her lungs. Several more diagnostic tests revealed her condition to be mesothelioma, which led her to have serious removal surgery of the mucous lining at a Boston Hospital in October 2014. During the procedure, two of her ribs were removed and her diaphragm was scraped; Doris has also recently begun a long line of chemotherapy treatments.

According to Doris, her quality of life has been severely impacted and she can no longer do simple tasks without the assistance of her family. The defendants have denied all allegations and claims of liability to the plaintiff and will most likely continue to do so throughout the asbestos mesothelioma lawsuit. Doris is seeking punitive and compensatory damages for her injuries. As of now, no hearings have been scheduled.

Overview of Asbestos Mesothelioma Complications

Since the 1960s, asbestos has been a popular building material for its fire and chemical resistant properties and because it was cheap and readily available. Asbestos fibers are approximately 700 times smaller than a human hair and are invisible to the human eye. The fibers can easily be inhaled through the nose or attach to clothing. As described above, this can lead to a variety of complications like mesothelioma or asbestosis. In the case of asbestos mesothelioma, it can be particularly devastating because it is often diagnosed at a latent stage and has very few treatment options.

Mesothelioma can take between 20 to 50 years to show any signs or symptoms, so when patients actually start experiencing mesothelioma symptoms, it often indicates the disease’s progression. Oftentimes when patients are diagnosed, their life expectancy is drastically shortened because the latent stages of mesothelioma diagnosis often have few treatment options. Other than former manufacturing workers, military veterans have been observed to be at a high risk of developing asbestos-related disease because of the materials used in shipyards and army bases.

The popularity of asbestos in building and manufacturing, as well as the long development process of mesothelioma, has led to asbestos injury claims to become the longest-running tort in American history. With over 600,000 plaintiffs and 6,000 defendants, legal experts expect this asbestos movement to continue for years to come.