Even if you aren’t familiar with it, mesothelioma isn’t something that should be taken lightly. Commonly associated with asbestos exposure, mesothelioma can come with a long list of health problems.
Considering the disease rose to fame due to poor work or housing conditions, it didn’t take long before legal matters started to follow. Even though contracting this disease is pretty rare in today’s world, that doesn’t make it any less important from a legal standpoint.
Over the years, many lawsuits have been filed regarding mesothelioma, demanding compensation for people and their families. Legal action became so common with cases of mesothelioma that it influenced laws and regulations on the matter. This article will focus on the history of mesothelioma lawsuits and their legal precedents.
Early Mesothelioma Litigation
Lawsuits around mesothelioma cases didn’t start to become more common until the 20th century. A lot of this had to do with our industrial era and the widespread use of asbestos at one time.
It wasn’t until the 1960s that the connection between asbestos and mesothelioma was made. This is where we start to see the beginnings of specialized mesothelioma lawyer. Even with companies understanding the risks, many of them kept quiet for years and didn’t inform their workforce of the health risks. As the cases began to stack up, the existence of mesothelioma started to become common knowledge.
Landmark Legal Precedents
There are plenty of historical examples that are seen as landmarks when it comes to how we handle asbestos today. Some were controversial, while others simply brought awareness to the topic on a broad and public scale. Here are a few key moments in the history of mesothelioma lawsuits:
- Strict liability for asbestos manufacturers was put into place in 1973.
- A model for asbestos compensation funds was created after Johns-Manville Corporation’s bankruptcy called the Manville Trust.
- Halliburton and Owens Corning ended up dealing with multi-billion-dollar settlements pertaining to asbestos claims.
- As asbestos legal cases continued to rise, this led to the landmark legal precedents we see today.
All of this was necessary not only for the health of the people but for safer living and working conditions for the future.
Impact Of Asbestos Regulations
As time went on, the prevalence of mesothelioma continued to put pressure on regulations focused on asbestos. This also highlighted the negligence of corporations on a national and global scale.
As the 1970s rolled around, OSHA eventually introduced exposure limits for asbestos in the workplace. Fast forward, and the EPA did their best to ban asbestos in 1989. Part of the legal battle here is that many industries were heavily reliant on asbestos in manufacturing. However, enough time has passed that we have seen numerous changes toward safer alternatives.
Endnote
Depending on when you were born, asbestos may sound like a foreign material to you. In reality, there’s a high chance you’ve been around it plenty. The difference is that in today’s world, the exposure is a lot less than what it used to be. Regardless of this, there is still a strong legal focus on the matter. As long as people continue to develop health issues from asbestos, others will keep fighting to get it banned for good.
Was this article helpful? Check out more on Lawbattlefield.com
Cicero Mesothelioma Lawyer Vimeo: Find Trusted Legal Help And Support Online