Have you been diagnosed With mesothelioma? If you or a member of your family has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or is diagnosed with mesothelioma in the future, you must seek legal assistance as rapidly as you can by calling – from any state in the nation – the law offices of a mesothelioma attorney.
What are mesothelioma’s symptoms, causes, and effects? What is the deadline for filing an injury claim to seek compensation, and what steps will you have to take? Keep reading this brief discussion of mesothelioma and your rights for the answers you may need.
Asbestos exposure is the only known cause of malignant mesothelioma, a rare but incurable cancer. Every year, approximately three thousand people in this nation are diagnosed with mesothelioma. For most people, a mesothelioma diagnosis means death in a year or less.
Treatment can ease mesothelioma’s symptoms and slow down its progress. If you receive a mesothelioma diagnosis, ask the doctor about the latest experimental treatments, and contact a mesothelioma lawyer at once to discuss your right to compensation.
What Should You Know About Mesothelioma?
If you may have inhaled asbestos, and if you are experiencing any of the signs of mesothelioma – coughing, shortness of breath, swelling, pain, unexpected weight loss, fever, or anemia – see your doctor at once.
Asbestos is a mineral. It has been used industrially and commercially in a number of different ways for over four thousand years. However, it was not until the 1970s that laws were finally passed in the U.S. to regulate asbestos use and to reduce exposure to asbestos.
Mesothelioma may develop after someone has inhaled asbestos dust, fibers, or particles into the lungs. The cancer may take from fifteen to fifty or more years to emerge in the lining of the abdomen, lungs, chest, and heart.
Who’s at Risk for Mesothelioma?
If you have inhaled asbestos because an employer, manufacturer, contractor, or property owner was negligent, you’re entitled to compensation – and to justice. In every state, injured victims of negligence are entitled to compensation for their medical costs, lost wages, and other damages.
Because the emergence of mesothelioma can take decades, it may be a challenge to identify the exact source of exposure to asbestos. Asbestos was used in a number of industries as late as the 1970s. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that over a million people are currently at risk.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act became law in 1970, and it protects some workers from asbestos exposure, so people who are 60 and older face a higher risk than anyone under age 50. In addition, many cosmetics products used by men and women contained talcum powder that was contaminated with asbestos. Moreover, someone exposed decades ago may only now be receiving a mesothelioma diagnosis.
Most mesothelioma victims experienced exposure to asbestos at their jobs; others may have lived near manufacturing facilities that used asbestos, near an asbestos mine, or with someone else who had been exposed to asbestos.
What Are a Mesothelioma Patient’s Rights?
In some cases and in some states, mesothelioma patients may qualify for workers’ compensation, and if a liable party can be identified, a mesothelioma patient may file an injury claim against the liable person or persons. Your attorney will recommend the best way to proceed.
Some patients may be entitled to considerable compensation for years of cancer treatment and related expenses. If your job involved asbestos, even fifty or more years ago, or if you lived with someone who may have been exposed to asbestos, get checked for mesothelioma – at once.
A California mesothelioma attorney will work with you to trace your exposure to asbestos and to identify and hold the liable party or parties accountable. Every case is unique, so you must be represented by a lawyer who understands mesothelioma and routinely represents its victims.
How Are Mesothelioma Claims Handled?
If you take legal action, your lawyer will handle the paperwork and the other aspects of your case. Most mesothelioma claims are resolved out-of-court in private negotiations, so your lawyer must have negotiating experience as well as trial experience.
However, if no reasonable settlement amount is offered privately, or if liability for your asbestos exposure is in dispute, a mesothelioma lawyer will take your claim to trial, explain to a jury how you developed mesothelioma, and ask the jury to order the payment of your compensation. Frost Law firm regularly takes mesothelioma cases to trial across the country and wins compensation for the client’s injuries.
Do You Still Have Time to Take Legal Action?
Each state enforces a statute of limitations – a deadline for initiating legal action after you have been injured because someone else was negligent. Each state allows exceptions, but in most cases, if you’ve missed the deadline, you won’t be allowed to seek compensation for your losses.
But even if your exposure to asbestos was three or four decades ago, in many cases, you may still take legal action. In most states, the statute of limitations “clock” will begin when you receive a mesothelioma diagnosis and not when you’re exposed to the asbestos that causes mesothelioma.
How Much Will Justice Cost?
If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, your costs for medical treatment and care may already be overwhelming you. Do not let that stop you from pursuing justice. A mesothelioma attorney will take the case on a contingent fee basis.
In other words, you will pay no attorney’s fee upfront and no fee until and unless you are compensated with a private settlement or a jury verdict. If you are not compensated at the end of the process, your attorney does not get paid, and you will owe nothing.
A free first case evaluation is also offered without obligation to mesothelioma victims and their families. That case evaluation is your chance to obtain personalized advice from a mesothelioma lawyer and to learn more about how the legal process works in your own state.
If you’re a mesothelioma patient, make the call now, from anywhere in the nation, to schedule a no-cost, no-obligation case evaluation. If someone else was liable for your asbestos exposure, and if your attorney can prove it, you will be compensated, and the law will be on your side.
