Mesothelioma Attorney
The Insurance Inudstry and Asbestos Hazards
1973 was the peak year for asbestos production in the United States. In the years immediately after the peak, the use and production of asbestos declined rapidly as documents and studies came to light that showed that asbestos could cause deadly diseases and forms of cancer. It is now being contended in a number of studies that the American insurance industry might have had knowledge of the risks as early as the 1930s and did nothing to prevent the use of and exposure to asbestos by millions of individuals.
In 1931, a medical screening that was financed in part by Met Life insurance discovered that 42 of 195 studied Canadian asbestos miners and millworkers had asbestosis. The study, however, was never published. In 1935, Met Life prepared a study for the federal government that found 64 U.S. workers with asbestosis. At this point, the researchers made revisions to downplay the disease’s gravity, at the suggestion of manufacturers.
In the 1940s, Saranac Laboratory in upstate New York wanted to see if exposing laboratory mice to asbestos would result in asbestosis. Unfortunately, the mice in one study didn’t develop asbestosis. Nine of eleven mice in the one study developed lung cancer instead. A Met Life official that was responsible for overseeing Saranac managed to prevent the widespread release of that finding and similar results.
Contact an Asbestos Attorney
If you have been exposed to asbestos or have developed mesothelioma, there may be legal options available for you to combat the exorbitant costs of the disease and exposure. To discuss these options and to determine if you have a case, contact the mesothelioma attorney of Williams Kherkher at 1-800-781-3955.
