Brief History of Mesothelioma
Asbestos has been in use for
millennia. The earliest known uses go back nearly 4,500 years to ancient
Finland, where anthophyllite – a particular form of asbestos –
was mixed with clay to protect pots and utensils from the flames of cooking
fires. Even the name “asbestos” comes from an ancient Greek word meaning
“inextinguishable,” due to the mineral’s fire-resistant properties.
Despite the long history of asbestos, however, it is only
relatively recently that the naturally occurring mineral has become the subject
of legal actions. In fact, before asbestos was scientifically linked to
the deadly
cancer mesothelioma, it was used widely with few legal
repercussions whatsoever.
Bringing Asbestos Before the Courts
(1920s – 1930s)
Ironically, asbestos was already in
the courts long before it was ever brought before the courts. That is to say,
asbestos was used ubiquitously to make construction materials that were used in
building courthouses, legislative chambers, and municipal offices all over.
The first well-known attempt to make asbestos companies pay
compensation for asbestos exposure is the 1924 case of 33-year-old Nellie
Kershaw, who lived in Rochdale, England. At the age of 26, Kershaw started
working at a factory where she spun asbestos fibers into yarn. Her close
contact to asbestos quickly led to medical issues, which she started
experiencing only a few years later. Kershaw and her husband tried to persuade
the company she worked for (Turner Brothers Asbestos) to pay for treatments,
but they refused. By the age of 33, Kershaw passed away due to “fibrosis of the
lungs,” which the death certificate specifically tied to the inhalation of
“mineral particles” (i.e., asbestos).
Unfortunately, Kershaw and her family never received recompense
for her asbestos-related problems during her lifetime. However, after her
death, a report appeared in the British Medical Journal by Dr. William Edmund
Cooke, who called Kershaw’s disease “pulmonary asbestosis,” a name that still
describes the same condition today. (Asbestosis is different from mesothelioma, but the two are closely related as asbestos-caused
conditions.) Dr. Cooke’s writeup prompted a formal inquiry by the British
Parliament, and Kershaw’s case became the basis on which the first asbestos
regulations were passed in England in the 1930s.
In the U.S., the earliest known asbestos-related lawsuit was
filed by Anna Pirskowski in 1929 in the Newark (NJ) Federal Court. The action
was brought against her employer, Johns-Manville Corporation – a company
that would become infamous later with respect to asbestos litigation. Little is
known about Pirskowsi’s case today, but we do know that she was not the only
person trying to get compensation for asbestos-related injuries. Pirskowski’s
lawyer, Samuel Greenstone, also file lawsuits for at least 15 other individuals
with asbestos-related claims. Unfortunately, Pirskowsi’s lawsuit was thrown out
in 1934.
Around the same time, the Massachusetts Industrial Accidents
Board settled a number of workers’ compensation claims related to asbestos.
However, in most cases, people had few, if any, legal rights when it came to
asbestos until decades later.
The Beginning of Asbestos Mass Torts
(1960s – 1980s)
Although there is evidence that
employers knew about the dangers of asbestos as early as the 1920s (and
possibly even earlier), the asbestos industry kept this information out of the
hands of public eye as much as possible. Even the government had a hand in
suppressing information: In the 1940s, the U.S. Navy and Maritime Commission
were aware of the necessity of protecting shipyard workers from asbestos
exposure, but they did not share this information widely.
Regardless of the attempt to keep the deadly nature of
asbestos contained, by the 1960s and 1970s, too many correlations had been made
between asbestos and illnesses like mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer.
Stories about this correlation started appearing in major national
publications, including newspapers like The New York Times, whereas previously
they had been limited to small industry newsletters or medical journals. This spread of knowledge, and the awareness that at least some employers had tried
to hide connections between asbestos and certain diseases, led to the filing of
claims in court.
From an administrative perspective, one big change that took
place in 1966 was the amendment of Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure (FRCP). In addition to other things, this change established a number
of requirements for class action lawsuit, which had previously been vague or
nonexistent. The effect of this was to allow much bigger lawsuits than had
previously been permitted – a tool which could be used not only to help large
groups of people affected by dangerous substances or unsafe business practices,
but which also could help force social change.
Due to both the increased awareness about the dangers of
asbestos and the new rules around class action lawsuits, the number of
asbestos-related claims skyrocketed in the late 1960s and into the 1970s. One
of the biggest companies targeted by these lawsuits was Johns-Manville
Corporation – the company that Anna Pirskowski had sued way back in 1929 due to
asbestos-related disease.
In fact, Johns-Manville was forced to settle so many claims
that in 1982 the company filed for bankruptcy. At the time, it was the largest
bankruptcy ever in the history of the United States, and it caused a certain amount
of panic among some financial analysts. Given the extent to which asbestos had
been used over the preceding hundred years (or longer), the fear was that many
large companies would be forced into bankruptcy the way Johns-Manville was.
In some respect, this turned out to be true. As part of its
bankruptcy proceedings, Johns-Manville was forced to create an asbestos trust
in 1988 that set aside money to pay future claims from asbestos exposure. The
Manville Trust, which has paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in claims in
its 30 years of operation, is still actively paying settlement claims today.
Johns-Manville Corporation became a cautionary tale for
other asbestos companies who were faced with a barrage of lawsuits during the
same period. Today, there are at least sixty asbestos trust funds established
by companies that have gone bankrupt – some of which have gone completely out
of business – due to the legal actions brought against them by victims of
asbestos exposure.
Asbestos Litigation Today
Based on the increasing use of
asbestos into the 1970s – until the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) started
regulating the substance – medical experts expect cases of mesothelioma and
other asbestos-related diseases to peak sometime around 2020. Until then, the
expectation is that an increasing number of people will be diagnosed with the
disease. And even after 2020, cases are expected to go down, but not disappear
altogether, especially considering that asbestos still is not banned in the
United States.
Given the correlation between asbestos and mesothelioma,
that means many of the people diagnosed (or their families) will be able to
bring claims against companies that mined, manufactured, or used asbestos and
asbestos-containing products. This includes not only employees of asbestos
companies, but also their families, as well as anyone who may have been exposed
to asbestos at home, at school, or in a public building.
The purpose of asbestos litigation today is to help victims
of asbestos exposure to receive compensation. Diseases like mesothelioma cost a
lot of money, not just in medical bills but also in lost wages (many people
with the disease are unable to work), travel expenses, and secondary conditions
that can develop.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma,
getting information about the right way to receive legal help and financial
assistance is important. To learn more about your legal rights with respect to
asbestos exposure
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