ASBESTOS AND
MESOTHELIOMA
Asbestos-induced mesothelioma can take up to 60 years before doctors and surgeons can diagnose it

An asbestos exposure often develops into mesothelioma cancer when the victim least expects it and is too old to fight it.

Weitz & Luxenberg has protected the legal rights of asbestos-injured workers since 1986. And in that time the firm's mesothelioma lawyers have won several billion dollars in verdicts and settlements for clients injured by job-related asbestos exposure.

September 21, 2009 – Asbestos is a silent killer that can take decades to develop into a fatal cancer like mesothelioma, side-blinding the unsuspecting victim when they least expect it.

Those who worked with asbestos many years ago in the Navy or in the construction industry, for example, are only now being diagnosed with occupational asbestos disease.

Some 3,000 people nationwide are diagnosed every year with asbestos-related mesothelioma.

What makes mesothelioma especially scary is the extra-long mesothelioma latency period; that is, the time between the initial asbestos exposure and the moment when symptoms are first diagnosed. That period is frequently 20 to 40 years.

In some cases the asbestos latency period is even longer.

Asbestos and mesothelioma after 60 years!

Just this month, Hollywood columnist Army Archerd, 87, died from asbestos-related mesothelioma 60 years after being exposed to asbestos materials in the Navy. Doctors first detected symptoms of mesothelioma in Archerd when he was 82.

Asbestos and mesothelioma link

In another story this month, an inquest in the U.K. ruled that the death of a 65-year-old St. Albens man was caused by industrial disease after he was exposed to asbestos dust in his first job as a teenager. That’s 50 years ago!

The gentleman started a building apprenticeship in 1954 in which he handled asbestos on an almost daily basis. He went on to become an experienced builder, carpenter and joiner – all trades that employ asbestos materials.

The coroner told his family that it wasn't unusual for 50 years to pass before an asbestos exposure develops into a fatal cancer. “I'm satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that he died from industrial disease,” the coroner concluded last week.

Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C.

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma and suspect it is related to occupational asbestos exposure, notify us through the communication form on this page to determine your eligibility for compensation. The communication is free.

We specialize in representing workers diagnosed with job-related asbestos diseases no matter how long ago the exposure occurred. And because the firm works on a contingency basis, there is no cost until we obtain a settlement or a verdict for you and your family.