ASBESTOS COMPANY

Johns Manville – The nation’s quintessential asbestos product company

April 21, 2010 – The Johns Manville company product line is recognized the world over for having once included asbestos-containing products that contributed to the deaths of thousands of workers through occupational asbestos exposure and mesothelioma.

Right up through 1985, asbestos-containing products bearing the Johns Manville company name have included such pervasive construction products as: cement board, asbestos cement, cloth, electrical products, gaskets, felt, floor tile, packing seals, steam pipe covering, piping, roofing products, siding and wallboard.

Asbestos company legacy

Johns Manville products were used abundantly in various industries, as well as in naval shipyards. This practice put many workers at a great health risk, since exposure to asbestos can lead to such serious diseases as mesothelioma, asbestosis, and asbestos-related lung cancer.

The World Health Organization estimates that about 90,000 people die each year around the world as a result of asbestos exposure. In the United States alone, some 3,000 cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed annually.

When asbestos dust becomes airborne during renovation or demolition work, and even during normal wear and tear of asbestos-containing equipment, workers can inadvertently inhale the fibers into their lungs. Asbestos exposure occurs most frequently through work-site inhalation.

Asbestos-related diseases can take 20 to 40 years to appear. That’s one reason why – despite recent asbestos-control regulations – the number of mesothelioma cases are predicted to peak in the U.S. in 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Chapter 11 asbestos company ploy

In 1981, the Johns Manville Corporation reorganized into the Manville Corporation. Besieged by thousands of asbestos cancer claims – and though solvent at the time – the Manville asbestos company took advantage of the nation’s bankruptcy laws and filed for Chapter 11 protection against creditors, in this case the asbestos-injured plaintiffs.

This ploy temporarily protected the asbestos company’s bottom line in that it stalled thousands of lawsuits being brought by workers and family members who died or were injured by the construction products it manufactured.

In 1988, the asbestos company set up the Manville Personal Injury and Property Damage Settlement Trusts to address the cases, and subsequently emerged from so-called bankruptcy. The trusts were set up for the workers who developed health problems, like mesothelioma, as a result of working with Manville products.

Asbestos plagues America

Despite the fatal health consequences associated with asbestos materials, asbestos is still imported and used in the United States for its insulation properties. The United States imported and used an estimated 1,820 tons of asbestos in 2007, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Government sources estimate that in the next decade more than 35,000 people nationwide will be diagnosed with the signature asbestos-related cancer, mesothelioma.

Obtain compensation for asbestos disease

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and seek FREE legal guidance and answers to your concerns, you are urged to notify Weitz & Luxenberg today through the communication form at left. We will pursue your claim with vigilance to help you receive the maximum compensation package you are entitled to.

Please know, there is no cost to you until we obtain a verdict or settlement in your favor.