Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive cancer that affects men more frequently. It is malignant, lethal, and moves quickly. This cancer has no known cure and the prognosis, so its not good news for those who are diagnosed with mesothelioma bad.
There are treatments available that can help patients enjoy a better quality of life, improve their prognosis, and possibly extend their life expectancy, but currently there is no way to eradicate mesothelioma completely.
Symptoms of Mesothelioma
Asbestos fibers act on the cells of the mesothelium causing inflammatory processes that can lead to thoracic pain, pleurisy, interstitial fibrosis.
However, more advanced symptoms of this disease are:
Pleural effusion, Shortness of breath, hoarseness, cough and fever, Chest pain, blood clots, weight loss.
Diagnosis of mesothelioma are
The main possible methods for the diagnosis of mesothelioma are:
X-ray and CT scan of the chest, Chest radiograph, MRI (Magnetic resonance), biopsy, blood tests
Treatment of Mesothelioma
The choice of the most suitable type of treatment for mesothelioma, is generally complex and depends on multiple factors such as the stage of the disease, the regions of the body involved, the presence of metastases and general health conditions of the person.
The most possible treatments of Mesothelioma are:
- Surgery
- Radiation therapy
- Chemotherapy
- Biological drugs
Causes of Mesothelioma
One factor causes most cases of mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos. Asbestos refers to six microscopic minerals that occur naturally in the soil. Asbestos fibers are resistant to heat and fire, are extremely durable, and are resistant to most chemical decomposition.
Because of these properties, many countries made extensive use of asbestos in a variety of industrial, commercial and manufacturing environments before scientists discovered their connection to cancerous tumors. The materials that most commonly contained asbestos were plasterboard, insulation, building materials, shipbuilding materials, automotive parts and cement pipes.
Asbestos particles breathed in through the air can enter in the body’s tissues and remain there which causes mesothelioma. A mesothelioma diagnosis can occur 10 to 50 years after original exposure to asbestos, often making it difficult to identify the original source.
The patients may take help from an attorney to investigate mesothelioma case and determine who might be liable for the development of these aggressive forms of cancer. You have the right to talk to a lawyer and discuss potential legal actions if your loved one diagnosed with mesothelioma.
If you or you loved ones were diagnosed with mesothelioma, you may be entitled to compensation from the company responsible for exposing you to asbestos.
Questions to be asked before filling a lawsuit for mesothelioma:
So before filling a lawsuit for mesothelioma, it is important that you ask yourself the following questions:
- Were you or your loved one exposed to asbestos or asbestos?
- Where and when did this exposure to asbestos occur?
- What damage did the person suffer as a result of exposure to asbestos?
What is need of a lawyer for mesothelioma patient
The good thing about hiring a lawyer is that it allows you to limit your participation in the case. The lawyer take care of every step of the legal process while you and your family attend to more important issues, such as medical treatment and emotional support.
You can hire a mesothelioma lawyer whose goal is to provide support to victims and their families from the first consultation until the resolution of their case, while they work to ensure that those who exposed them to asbestos are held accountable for their actions.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, it is important to contact a lawyer as soon as possible. There is a deadline to file the mesothelioma lawsuits, and if it takes a long time to act you may miss the opportunity to seek compensation for your illness.
Requesting compensation is a way of asking large companies to take responsibility for the damage to health that they have caused to many.
How to choose a mesothelioma lawyer
Make sure of the following before signing a contract with a mesothelioma lawyer:
- The lawyer must have extensive experience in cases of mesothelioma.
- Ask what is their success rate with cases similar to yours, and if the claim will be made in your country or in other country.
- The procedure must not have any initial cost for the family or the patient
- The lawyer must charge a pre-agreed commission on a contract
Types of Cases in which compensation can be claimed
There are two types of claims for mesothelioma in which compensation can be claimed for damage resulting from exposure to asbestos:
1 Personal injury
2 mesothelioma lawsuit after wrongful death
Personal injury mesothelioma Compensation
Normally, the victim’s former employer or the company that manufactured and sold the product with asbestos will be named defendants.
Depending on local laws, the victim has between one to five years from diagnosis to file a personal injury claim. These cases may claim first-hand exposure, as a result of direct contact with asbestos.
Another type of personal injury case is second-hand exposure, which means that someone was in contact with another individual who had direct contact.
Wrongful death compensation
When someone dies from having come into contact with asbestos, a member of their family can file a death claim for the negligence of another.
Compensation for non-pecuniary and existential damage
In addition to above two cases, there is another type of damage for which compensation can be claimed although it is less common. This is known as Compensation for non-pecuniary and existential damage. The compensation for the moral damage connected to the suffering as a result of the pathology lies with both the patient and his relatives who have suffered with him.
Exposure to asbestos
Many of our loved ones and we, unfortunately, have been exposed to asbestos in some way. There are ten very common substances which includes Asbestos that is very risky to health and the environment.
Asbestos at work
According to the World Health Organization, 125 million workers are exposed to asbestos in their workplace around the world. In the United States, if exposure to asbestos occurred at work, you could file a lawsuit against your employer. If you worked in the following industries, it is very likely that you were exposed to asbestos:
Building, Manufacturing factories, Firefighters, Naval building, farming, Food, Railway
Asbestos at home
If you were exposed to asbestos at home, you can claim compensation from the owner of the house, if the house is rented. In case you are the owner of the house, then you can claim compensation from the previous builder or owner.
Asbestos has still not been banned in most countries including United States, so there is big possibility that you may have asbestos in many things around your home.
Some of these are:
Roofing materials, Floors Tiles, Cement fibers, Paints, Putty of windows, Duct air conditioning insulation.
Process of Mesothelioma Lawsuit
The process of Mesothelioma obviously begins by hiring an expert lawyer followed by a series of following steps:
Preparation
Getting ready for Filling Lawsuit:
All necessary information related to the case will be collected by the lawyer including the history of exposure and many other things.
Filing Complaint
A written complaint will be filed by the lawyer after which the legal process will be started.
Wait for Responses
After filling complain you will wait for the response of the defendant party. Before this a copy of the complaint is sent to the defendant.
Research
Proper research is done by both parties lawyers regarding the allegations put.
Settlement
Defendant party may or may not try to make a settlement. In this case the defendant may agree to give some compensation to the victim before the trial of the case starts.
Trial Process
If any settlement is not done, then the trial process stats. If your case is strong you win and start receiving compensation soon.
Asbestos Claims Payouts
The compensation for damages of asbestos worker and his family may be obtained through a judicial path that is through a civil court.
The amount of compensation for any damage due to asbestos exposure or Mesothelioma varies depending on the consequences of the pathology including death.
Although the amount of compensation or the payouts are not fixed, but these are very high figures, which in judicial circles can exceed even one million dollars.
The victims or the family members usually start receiving the compensations for damage due to exposure to asbestos within few weeks or months after winning the case.
The estimated compensation of mesothelioma lawsuit is between $1 million to $1.4 million.
Highest payout for Asbestos compensation is said to be $50 which was paid to Roby Whittington which was a steelworker in a US steel firm.
Mesothelioma Life Expectancy
| Stage 1 | 21 Month |
| Stage 2 | 19 Month |
| Stage 3 | 16 Month16 |
| Stage 1 | 12 Month |
How Long Does Asbestos Take To Settle?
As the trial of Asbestos case is slow, so the the settlement of the case may take long time depending upon how strong the case is and how strong the evidences are.
If the defendant party agrees to pay the compensation before the trial, then the settlements are done quickly.
The defendants sometimes makes decision in between the trial to give compensation to the Asbestos victims. As the trials of the case are public so sometimes the defendant may decide to make settlements in private.
If the settlements are not done in the above ways, then both parties have to wait for the jury decision which is very time consuming and may take months or sometimes years.
Are mesothelioma settlements taxable income?
Compensation is given to mesothelioma victim or their family members after winning the case in court against the responsible party. So the victim or the person who receives the compensation want to know about whether this compensation is taxable or tax free.
As there are different types of Mesothelioma cases, so the answer to above question is also different depending upon the situtaion. As the Mesothelioma case comes in the category of Personal injury and compensation for Personal injury is completely tax free, so usually there are no taxes on this compensation.
But still Mesothelioma compensation is tax free only if the personal injury is of below two types. If the personal injury doesn’t fall in the below two categories, the the victim or the compensation receiver has to pay the tax.
Personal Injury Type 1: Pain and suffering due to Mesothelioma
Personal Injury Type 2: Expenses of medicines and other things due to the injury.
