Lung cancer is a type of cancer that begins in the lungs and occurs when cells grow rapidly to form a tumor. While people who smoke have the greatest risk of lung cancer, exposure to asbestos is also a well-known cause of lung cancer. In fact, those who smoked and were also exposed to asbestos significantly increases the likelihood of developing lung cancer.

Who’s at risk?

Commonly affected people are those who worked as carpenters, pipefitters, ship builders, factory workers, firefighters, insulators, and mechanics and/or were present at industrial sites, military sites, construction sites, power & chemical plants, and shipyards. In addition, family members of the aforementioned workers were also at risk if they were washing clothes that contained the asbestos fibers.

Symptoms can take 20-50 years to appear and include:  a mass in the abdomen and abdominal swelling, bowel obstruction, chest pain, chills and fever, fatigue, persistent cough, wheezing, and many others.

Common Lawsuit Misconceptions:

• Some people believe that if they are a smoker, they cannot bring a lawsuit – this is entirely untrue. The primary cause of mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos and smoking is not even a risk factor to develop mesothelioma. As for lung cancer, asbestos exposure alone is a known cause of lung cancer, but combining smoking and lung cancer significantly increases the chances of developing lung cancer. Therefore, if you or a loved one was diagnosed with mesothelioma or lung cancer, a history of smoking will not alone preclude you from bringing a successful law suit.

• Another common misconception is that if your occupation did not entail handling asbestos, then you cannot bring a lawsuit – this is entirely untrue. If you weren’t handling asbestos at work, you may still have a successful law suit. For example, people who did their own home renovations with products using asbestos like old linoleum tiles, mixing cement and/or compound, or doing their own demolition work may have viable lawsuits. In addition, professions not commonly associated with asbestos, such as bakers or hairdressers have had successful cases due to the ovens or hairdryers they operated. You will not know for sure until you call our office!

• Lastly, there are people that believe since their exposure to asbestos occurred many years ago that they cannot bring a lawsuit related to mesothelioma or lung cancer – this is entirely untrue. The truth is that your time to bring such a lawsuit does not begin to run until the date of your diagnosis. Once again, you will not know about your potential for a successful lawsuit until you call our office to find out.