Norfolk v. Ayers: Mesothelioma Patients

Read the opinion of Justice Kennedy in the Norfolk mesothelioma case.  This section focuses on issues regarding patients with the asbestos-related disease.  In addition to mesothelioma, asbestos is also known to cause serious diseases such as asbestos-related lung cancer and asbestosis.

One who has mesothelioma, in particular, faces agonizing, unremitting pain in the lungs, which spreads throughout the thoracic cavity as tumors expand and metastasize. See W. C. Morgan & A. Seaton, Occupational Lung Diseases 353 (3d ed. 1995). The symptoms do not subside. Their severity increases, with death the only prospect for relief. And death is almost certain within a short time from the onset of mesothelioma. See Ibid. (“Death usually occurs within 18 months to 2 years . . . . A minority of patients, somewhere around 15%, survive 3 to 4 years”). Yet the majority’s decision endangers this employee’s chances of recovering any damages for the simple reason that, by the time the worker is entitled to sue for the cancer, the funds available for compensation in all likelihood will have disappeared, depleted by verdicts awarding damages for unrealized fear, verdicts the majority is so willing to embrace.

Weitz & Luxenberg is a leading plaintiffs' law firm that has represented people affected by mesothelioma for over 20 years. Men and women diagnosed with mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure may be entitled to compensation from the companies responsible for their disease.

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