Asbestos related diseases such as asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma happen as a result of a person being exposed to asbestos fibers. Once the fibers are either inhaled or swallowed they stay in a person's body.
In many cases, over the course of several decades, debilitating diseases develop. These diseases can be very painful. They often will preclude the victim from being able to work. And they are very expensive to treat.
History has shown that through the years many of the companies that were involved in the mining of asbestos or in the manufacturing of products that contain asbestos were very much aware of the health consequences they were subjecting their workers to. However these companies not only chose to ignore this information, they even went so far as to deny that there was any connection between asbestos and any life threatening disease.
Ultimately the truth came out and many of the people whose lives were jeopardized (or the survivors of the victims of asbestos related diseases) hired asbestos attorneys to stand up to the companies and hold them accountable for their actions.
Over the years hundreds of thousands of such cases have been brought to court. The amount of a settlement or an award is impossible to predict. It often depends on the quality of the attorney and the credibility of the medical evidence.
On February 27, 2008 a jury in New Jersey awarded $30.3 million to the daughters and widow of Mark Buttitta from General Motors and other defendants. What is notable about this case is that not only was Buttitta only fifty years old when he died, it is believed that his exposure to asbestos was a result of what was carried home on his brother's and father's work clothes. Both his father and his brother worked at General Motors parts warehouses.
In 2004 a seventysix year old gentleman brought action against Asbestos Corporation Ltd., claiming that his mesothelioma was a result of his being exposed to asbestos in the 1950s. However, in this instance, the company's attorneys were able to convince the jury that the man's lung cancer was a result of his being a cigarette smoker.