Practice Areas: Toxic Tort Claims

Asbestos

Asbestos has been recognized by the U.S. Government as a class 1 carcinogen. Thousands of shipyard and construction workers in the greater D.C. area were exposed through their occupations to hazardous asbestos dust. Today, many of these workers have developed respiratory ailments and cancers of the lung and chest, including mesothelioma. Asbestos litigation is a highly specialized field of product liability law, requiring familiarity with complex medical, industrial hygiene and occupational medicine issues that surface in virtually every case. Today’s asbestos attorneys must also have a working knowledge of the history of this field of litigation which has led to the bankruptcies of many of the asbestos manufacturing companies in order to navigate the client to the best possible result. The lawyers at Brown & Gould have a combined experience of more than 40 years representing the rights of asbestos victims. We have represented in excess of one hundred asbestos clients, obtaining millions of dollars of compensation for the victims and their families.

Frequently Asked Questions about Asbestos

These are questions often asked about asbestos, asbestos-induced disease and compensation:

What is Asbestos?

Asbestos is a generic name given to six fibrous minerals that have been used in commercial products -- chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, anthophyllite asbestos, tremolite asbestos, and actinolite asbestos. Asbestos is a strong and incombustible fiber widely used in the past for thermal and sound insulation and fireproofing.

What types of disease are caused by asbestos?

The three most common types of disease that result from asbestos exposure are asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma.

What is asbestosis?

A chronic scarring of the lungs that makes breathing difficult and sometimes can result in enlargement of the heart, or death.

What is mesothelioma?

An incurable cancer of the tissue lining the body cavity—that is, the chest or stomach.

How much asbestos exposure is required to cause disease?

Asbestosis and lung cancer usually result from exposure over many years. Mesothelioma can result from much shorter exposure. Moreover, the greater the amount of asbestos exposure, the greater the likelihood of developing each of these diseases. Finally, asbestos disease has a long "latency period," which means that decades can pass between the date of initial asbestos exposure and the date when the disease first manifests itself. There is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos.

Who is at risk?

Many people have been exposed to asbestos products including: insulators, shipyard workers, pipefitters, boilermakers, steamfitters, carpenters, painters, plasterers, plasterers' tenders, lathers, laborers, plumbers, sheetmetal workers, iron workers, floor covering installers, electricians, building engineers, maintenance workers, automobile and aircraft mechanics.

There are numerous accounts of children and wives who developed mesothelioma by exposure to the asbestos dust that men using asbestos products brought home on their clothes or from simply living in an area where asbestos was mined or asbestos products were manufactured.

There is a growing body of medical and legal literature describing mesothelioma in persons who occupy buildings containing asbestos. This has occurred, for example, when the asbestos in fireproofing separates from the materials in which it was originally combined and is blown through the air by ventilation systems or contaminates the workplace. One of our reported mesothelioma cases involved such exposure: Washington Hospital Center v. District of Columbia Dep't of Employment Servs., 859 A.2d 1058 (D.C. 2004) (PDF).

Remember that although asbestos has not been an ingredient in new building materials since approximately 1975, many older buildings still contain it. Remember also that brief exposures to asbestos can result in mesothelioma.

Legal Remedies

There are legal remedies for nearly every person who suffers disease or disability as a result of exposure to asbestos. Each of these remedies is a means of recovering compensation.

The usual source of compensation is a lawsuit filed in state court against the manufacturers of the asbestos-containing products to which one was exposed. However, today many asbestos product manufacturers are in bankruptcy. Claims against such companies can only be pursued in bankruptcy court.

Finally, claims for workers' compensation and Social Security disability benefits are also a possible source of compensation.