What Took Asbestos So Long?

The heyday of Asbestos production was the 1970's but it was years later that problems areros in the workers who were involved in the making and demolition or homes, offices and factories with Asbestos material in them. We have no idea how long it will take for the results of the 9/11 tragedy to be manifest in people's health. Everyone from the police and the firemen, to the office workers and those in the schools around the World Trade Center were covered with dust and debris. 

Unfortunately Osama bin Laden will not be around to be sued in approximately 20 years time. One of the big problems for the people who suffer from the various after effects of exposure to asbestos fibers is the length of time from the initial exposure to the cancer or pneumoconiosis appearing.

Asbestos Business

All this brings us to some important examples. In the 1970's asbestos use was at its height. This may show why in the 1990's litigation cases involving asbestos rose from 20,000 talents to 100,000. The problem is, there are now more and more people chasing fewer and fewer workers and producers of the products. Why are they decreasing in numbers? 

The producers and the employers who used asbestos products are being driven to bankruptcy as they can not sustain the high levels of damages awarded to the stain. You may argue that the producers should insure against the possibility of being sued for the results of using their product. In the end the result is that the insurance companies put their premiums up so high that a business can not continue to function. The business goes bankrupt and the next business that uses Asbestos becomes the next target. The claims keep growing and people will keep on losing their jobs, all the time this goes on.

How do we really get justice for those who are suffering or have suffered from the effects of breathing in asbestos fibers? 

This is not the point of the legal system. The point of the legal system is for the plaintiff to extract as much money as possible from the person or organization he or she is suing. The only way to prevent the successful claim by the claimant is to refute the idea that the plaintiff's medical conditions were caused by exposure to the products made, supplied, or used by the defender or their company.

Asbestos Companies

source: http://www.coresurveys.co.uk/about-core

One useful side effect will be for those companies which are still using Asbestos in any way, shape, or form to look for alternative materials and use those so future generations will not face the same medical bills. The unfortunate side effect is that the companies using the new alternative materials will be legally separate from those that used Asbestos and the Asbestos making companies will be made bankrupt.

In our modern society there are always alternative products on the market and it only takes a change in safety or jurisdiction to make people aware that expensive changes to their production will be cheaper in the long run that continuing with the long-held use of Asbestos in building and manufacture.