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Furnace factory workers risk asbestos exposure and mesothelioma

A deadly asbestos exposure during a summer job as a furnace worker develops into mesothelioma 40 years later and kills a prominent Michigan educator.

Weitz & Luxenberg has protected the legal rights of workers for 25 years – longer than most law firms in the nation. And in that time the firm's mesothelioma lawyers have won several billion dollars in verdicts and settlements for clients.

NEWS BULLETIN

July 15, 2009 - A longtime education advocate who died Monday of asbestos-related mesothelioma traced his asbestos exposure back to a summer job he had in a furnace factory during college.

Michigan educator Joe Hoffer served on two school boards until resigning last year after lung removal surgery. He was 61.

Mesothelioma, the deadliest of asbestos-related cancers, has a long latency period between the time of exposure and the moment of diagnosis, as illustrated by this case. Mesothelioma life expectancy is short, rarely more than two years.

The disease can remain dormant for up to 40 years before a diagnosis is made. Mesothelioma patients rarely survive more than a year after being diagnosed.

Furnace factory workers risk mesothelioma

Even a summer job working around asbestos can kill you years later. Furnace men work in an industry where until at least the early 1980s, they always used some sort of asbestos-containing protective gear.

Asbestos is the only mineral that can be woven into cloth. Because of the ease of making asbestos cloth, it has been used extensively in hot environments as standard protective clothing right up until the late 1970s.

Asbestos fibers can cling to clothes and hair, so any protective coverings that come in contact with the worker’s ordinary clothing can shed asbestos dust onto clothes the worker wears home.

In this way, family members can also be exposed to asbestos, even if they never visited the place of employment.

Furnace workers with mesothelioma can obtain restitution

Government sources estimate that in the next decade more than 35,000 people nationwide will be diagnosed with the deadliest form of asbestos-related cancer, mesothelioma. This disease is most often the result of industrial workplace exposure to asbestos – and usually contracted through employers’ blatant disregard for the health and safety of their workers. That’s why people diagnosed with mesothelioma and their family members have strong cases in court.

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and seek FREE legal guidance and answers to your concerns, please notify us through the communication form below. We will pursue your claim with vigilance to help you pay for medical bills, future and past lost wages, and damages. There is no cost to you until we win a settlement or a verdict.