Both plaintiffs and defendants in asbestos lawsuits agree that asbestos causes 80 to 90 percent of all mesothelioma cases. You would think that it naturally follows that 80 to 90 percent of mesothelioma lawsuit plaintiffs do not have to prove to a jury that asbestos exposure caused their mesothelioma. Until recently, that was not the case. Instead, through a legal process called reverse bifurcation, most if not all mesothelioma lawsuit plaintiffs had to first prove in court that their mesothelioma diagnosis is tied to past asbestos exposure. Once this was proved – and it usually was -- most cases settled out
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If you read the last article we posted about asbestos trust funds, you’ll remember the clever hammock analogy used to describe what they are. If you didn’t read it, you can do so here. Now, the Government Accountability Office (GOA) – a sort of congressional watchdog group that keeps an eye on government spending of taxpayer dollars – has published a report that reveals the somewhat secretive system of asbestos trust fund payouts. The report looked at 52 asbestos trust funds that have paid out over 3,000,000 claims for
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Illinois may be in the midst of change regarding the way asbestos and mesothelioma lawsuits are ruled upon by judges, as a recent verdict reversal may signal that more strict criteria is on the horizon. Noting what could be the beginning of a trend in Illinois, a recent Forbes article examined a state appeals court ruling that overturned a $2.5 million jury verdict against Honeywell and Pneumo Abex. The settlement had been awarded to a woman who claimed her mesothelioma had been caused by asbestos fibers that were tracked into her house by her husband,
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Months ago we wrote about the baffling case of the mesothelioma cancer patient and Canadian government official who was opposed to banning asbestos, the very material responsible for his illness. Today former Canadian Infrastructure Minister Chuck Strahl seems to have taken more of a stand against asbestos. It’s a small stand, but might represent progress nonetheless for the thousands at risk of developing mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. Strahl is urging his fellow Canadians to support the inclusion of asbestos in the Rotterdam Convention, the body deciding which chemicals and other materials should be labeled
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An Illinois company has been singled out and fined by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for failing to protect its workers adequately from loose asbestos fibers during a 2010 cleanup. Following an OSHA investigation, AMD Industries of Cicero, IL was issued 19 “willful” and eight “serious” health citations – as well as $1,247,400 in penalties – for the way it handled an in-house removal of asbestos products from its facility in 2010. The asbestos products, which had included asbestos coating on boilers, heating units, and piping, had initially been discovered during a
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