The family of a deceased Jackson County Courthouse employee recently settled the woman's Missouri asbestos lawsuit for $10 million, the largest asbestos settlement in the state's history. Nancy Lopez filed the asbestos lawsuit against the U.S. Engineering Co. for failing to take proper precautions to protect courthouse worker while handling asbestos, writes the Associated Press. For 27 years, Lopez had worked at the courthouse in Kansas City. Her complaint claimed she developed mesothelioma cancer from her asbestos exposure at the courthouse. Lopez died from the disease in October 2010. The asbestos lawsuit settlement was awarded to her family late last
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As the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy approaches, a newly published study offers hints of a possible link between exposure to chemicals released after New York's World Trade Center collapsed and the development of cancer in firefighters who toiled at ground zero. The New York Times reports that the study, released in the British medical journal The Lancet, reveals that 9/11 firefighters are 19 percent more likely to develop cancer than those who were not at the Trade Center wreckage. Although the study’s leader, Dr. David J. Prezant, asserts its findings are far
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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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New data from the largest life insurance company in the country suggests that mesothelioma claims have actually increased in the first half of 2011 compared to last year. This data may come as a disappointment to some hoping for a decline in mesothelioma cases. However, it also could be seen as a sign that asbestos lawsuits from mesothelioma victims are becoming more effective and aggressive so people who have been hurt by asbestos can get the money they deserve. According to Reuters, MetlLfe Inc. reported this week that it had received
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After a yearlong investigation into his death from mesothelioma, the mesothelioma attorneys representing Merlin Olsen’s estate have determined that NBC did not play a role in exposing the former NFL star to the asbestos that killed him. Before he died last March from mesothelioma cancer, Olsen initiated a mesothelioma lawsuit against all of the companies he believed had exposed him to asbestos. NBC Studios was named in the lawsuit because he worked at the network later in his career as an announcer. He claimed he was exposed to asbestos dust when workers used asbestos plaster
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