Mesothelioma and Asbestos

Secondhand exposure to asbestos may as well as be called secondary, take home or off-site exposure, but by any name, it is deadly. Secondhand exposure usually results when someone wears asbestos-covered work clothes home as well as exposes other members of the household to the fibers.  The dust sticks to everything as well as fibers can remain in the air for an extended time.  Family members breathe in the microscopic fibers, as well as some develop mesothelioma or asbestosis decades later. Today, lawsuits involving secondhand exposure to asbestos are showing up in courts across the country, more than 800 in 2009.

Since so many asbestos manufacturers are out of business, the targets of the lawsuits are most often the employers, something which raises a gummy point of law. While there is no question that employers are accountable for employees’ safety, can they be held accountable for the safety of people employees come in contact with? Advocates for victims rights say yes, but courts rulings possess varied around the country—some courts finding that employers are accountable for this foreseeable harm as well as others holding that the employers possess no duty to family members of their employees.

For the filled story, go to iStockAnalyst.