Woman dies of mesothelioma after husband exposed to asbestos

Illnesses that are linked to asbestos exposure are not developed overnight. Often times, victims of mesothelioma, asbestosis and other lung cancers have been exposed to asbestos for many years, at different locations and because of the negligence of multiple parties. And even after toxic exposure levels have been reached, a person may not know they have developed these illnesses until decades later.

That is why readers may commonly see a long list of companies and employers named in asbestos lawsuits. Very infrequently is there just one point of exposure when it comes to asbestos. Many workers who are at a high risk of exposure often worked at a number of different jobs and with several types of products that contain asbestos throughout their careers. Recently, dozens of companies were cited in a lawsuit filed by a woman’s family after she died of mesothelioma.

The lawsuit argues that the woman’s husband spent years working with asbestos without his knowledge. At the end of every day, he would track the asbestos dust back to his home and car, exposing his family to the toxic substance without realizing that he was putting them in danger. Sadly, after years of sharing a home with her husband, washing his clothes and riding in his car, the woman developed mesothelioma and passed away.

Now the family is seeking compensation from more than 50 companies that they claim contributed to the man’s exposure to asbestos and therefore, his wife’s devastating illness. The companies are accused of making, selling, distributing, packaging, transporting and installing asbestos materials without properly warning workers, like the woman’s husband, of the risk of exposure even though they had access to and knowledge of reports that identify asbestos as a dangerous substance.

Source: The Louisiana Record, “Woman allegedly indirectly exposed to asbestos from her husband’s clothes, car, and their home,” Holland Phillips, Oct. 8, 2013