Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear until 20 to 50 years after exposure to asbestos. Shortness of breath, cough, and pain in the chest due to an accumulation of fluid in the pleural space are often symptoms of pleural mesothelioma.
Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma include weight loss and cachexia, abdominal swelling and pain due to ascites (a buildup of fluid in the abdominal cavity). Other symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma may include bowel obstruction, blood clotting abnormalities, anemia, and fever. If the cancer has spread beyond the mesothelium to other parts of the body, symptoms may include pain, trouble swallowing, or swelling of the neck or face.
These symptoms may be caused by mesothelioma or by other, less serious conditions.
Mesothelioma that affects the pleura can cause these signs and symptoms:
chest wall pain pleural effusion, or fluid surrounding the lung shortness of breath fatigue or anemia wheezing, hoarseness, or cough blood in the sputum (fluid) coughed up In severe cases, the person may have many tumor masses. The individual may develop a pneumothorax, or collapse of the lung. The disease may metastasize, or spread, to other parts of the body.
Tumors that affect the abdominal cavity often do not cause symptoms until they are at a late stage. Symptoms include:
abdominal pain ascites, or an abnormal buildup of fluid in the abdomen a mass in the abdomen problems with bowel function weight loss In severe cases of the disease, the following signs and symptoms may be present:
blood clots in the veins, which may cause thrombophlebitis disseminated intravascular coagulation, a disorder causing severe bleeding in many body organs jaundice, or yellowing of the eyes and skin low blood sugar level pleural effusion pulmonary emboli, or blood clots in the arteries of the lungs severe ascites A mesothelioma does not usually spread to the bone, brain, or adrenal glands. Pleural tumors are usually found only on one side of the lungs.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Supreme Court hears ALCOA asbestos suit
Does a company have responsibility for people — other than its own employees — who are exposed to harmful agents from its facilities? That is the question the Tennessee Supreme Court tried to get its arms around Tuesday in Knoxville.
In late 2003, Maryville resident Amanda Satterfield, who was 23 years old at the time, filed a lawsuit against ALCOA Inc. and Breeding Insulation Co. in Blount County Circuit Court.
In her suit, Satterfield charged that she “was exposed to harmful asbestos dust and fibers from the day of her birth from her father’s use of asbestos products and inadvertent introduction of dust and fibers into their home and personal environments.” Satterfield had mesothelioma, a rare cancer directly associated with asbestos exposure.
On Jan. 1, 2005, at the age of 25, Satterfield lost her battle with cancer.
Doug Satterfield, Amanda’s father and the representative of her estate, continued with the suit after her death. With his 18-year-old daughter Amelia at his side, Doug Satterfield cried throughout the hearing in the Tennessee Supreme Court Building in downtown Knoxville.
Doug Satterfield hauled asbestos for ALCOA, starting his career with the company in 1973. He served in the military from 1975 to 1978 and then returned to work at ALCOA. His lawyers have maintained that Doug Satterfield was exposed to asbestos at ALCOA Tennessee Operations and that he brought home harmful dust and fibers on his clothes, resulting in Amanda contracting mesothelioma.
The lawsuit sought $10 million in compensatory and $10 million in punitive damages — although Satterfield has said the case is about justice and doing the right thing, not money.
ALCOA, represented by attorney John Lucas of Knoxville, argued that the ramifications of what the court is considering go far beyond this case, and could possibly create “an infinite universe of potential plaintiffs.”
Lucas referred to Satterfield’s allegations as the “conduit theory” — stating that, by assigning responsibility to companies for third-party contact with harmful agents, the court would define Doug Satterfield as the “vehicle” that transmitted asbestos into his home.
Tennessee Supreme Court Justice William Koch Jr. asked Lucas how that differed from an employee who drove an ALCOA truck into a neighborhood and exposed residents to asbestos.
“How is it negligent for ALCOA to let asbestos fly out of a truck and not negligent for ALCOA to allow employees to go home with asbestos dust on their clothing?” Koch asked.
ALCOA made a similar arguments during a coal tar pitch-related lawsuit in Knox County Chancery Court last year, charging that it would open the “floodgates of litigation” and that Tennessee would become a “plaintiff’s Mecca.” That case is now proceeding with a class action certification hearing following the conclusion of discovery depositions.
Knoxville attorney Greg Coleman, who represents Satterfield, said the real question was “what did ALCOA know, when did they know it, and what did they do about it?
“Public policy should at least extend to the home,” Coleman said. “ALCOA may not have known if an employee would stop at the Waffle House on his way home from work — but they did know that the employee would eventually end up at his home.”
Satterfield’s case has been in the legal system for more than four years. Originally heard — and dismissed — in Blount County Circuit Court Judge W. Dale Young’s court, the Tennessee Court of Appeals reversed Young’s decision, reinstated the lawsuit and charged ALCOA with the cost of the appeal in April 2007.
The Tennessee Supreme Court Justices are expected to issue a written opinion on the case within three months. They can either return the case to Blount County Circuit Court, where it will proceed, or dismiss it entirely.
After the hearing, Doug Satterfield told The Daily Times, “It seems like ALCOA is trying to change the law to protect itself.
“It’s unthinkable that public policy shouldn’t protect the children of workers.”
Amelia Satterfield, Amanda’s younger sister, said she believed the hearing went well, but said her family was nervous about the court appearance.
Coleman said: “ALCOA is trying to reverse what the law should be. They’re saying the greater the magnitude of the harm and the higher the mortality rate, the less responsibility they should have. Where I come from in Ducktown, Tennessee, that’s called bologna.”
In late 2003, Maryville resident Amanda Satterfield, who was 23 years old at the time, filed a lawsuit against ALCOA Inc. and Breeding Insulation Co. in Blount County Circuit Court.
In her suit, Satterfield charged that she “was exposed to harmful asbestos dust and fibers from the day of her birth from her father’s use of asbestos products and inadvertent introduction of dust and fibers into their home and personal environments.” Satterfield had mesothelioma, a rare cancer directly associated with asbestos exposure.
On Jan. 1, 2005, at the age of 25, Satterfield lost her battle with cancer.
Doug Satterfield, Amanda’s father and the representative of her estate, continued with the suit after her death. With his 18-year-old daughter Amelia at his side, Doug Satterfield cried throughout the hearing in the Tennessee Supreme Court Building in downtown Knoxville.
Doug Satterfield hauled asbestos for ALCOA, starting his career with the company in 1973. He served in the military from 1975 to 1978 and then returned to work at ALCOA. His lawyers have maintained that Doug Satterfield was exposed to asbestos at ALCOA Tennessee Operations and that he brought home harmful dust and fibers on his clothes, resulting in Amanda contracting mesothelioma.
The lawsuit sought $10 million in compensatory and $10 million in punitive damages — although Satterfield has said the case is about justice and doing the right thing, not money.
ALCOA, represented by attorney John Lucas of Knoxville, argued that the ramifications of what the court is considering go far beyond this case, and could possibly create “an infinite universe of potential plaintiffs.”
Lucas referred to Satterfield’s allegations as the “conduit theory” — stating that, by assigning responsibility to companies for third-party contact with harmful agents, the court would define Doug Satterfield as the “vehicle” that transmitted asbestos into his home.
Tennessee Supreme Court Justice William Koch Jr. asked Lucas how that differed from an employee who drove an ALCOA truck into a neighborhood and exposed residents to asbestos.
“How is it negligent for ALCOA to let asbestos fly out of a truck and not negligent for ALCOA to allow employees to go home with asbestos dust on their clothing?” Koch asked.
ALCOA made a similar arguments during a coal tar pitch-related lawsuit in Knox County Chancery Court last year, charging that it would open the “floodgates of litigation” and that Tennessee would become a “plaintiff’s Mecca.” That case is now proceeding with a class action certification hearing following the conclusion of discovery depositions.
Knoxville attorney Greg Coleman, who represents Satterfield, said the real question was “what did ALCOA know, when did they know it, and what did they do about it?
“Public policy should at least extend to the home,” Coleman said. “ALCOA may not have known if an employee would stop at the Waffle House on his way home from work — but they did know that the employee would eventually end up at his home.”
Satterfield’s case has been in the legal system for more than four years. Originally heard — and dismissed — in Blount County Circuit Court Judge W. Dale Young’s court, the Tennessee Court of Appeals reversed Young’s decision, reinstated the lawsuit and charged ALCOA with the cost of the appeal in April 2007.
The Tennessee Supreme Court Justices are expected to issue a written opinion on the case within three months. They can either return the case to Blount County Circuit Court, where it will proceed, or dismiss it entirely.
After the hearing, Doug Satterfield told The Daily Times, “It seems like ALCOA is trying to change the law to protect itself.
“It’s unthinkable that public policy shouldn’t protect the children of workers.”
Amelia Satterfield, Amanda’s younger sister, said she believed the hearing went well, but said her family was nervous about the court appearance.
Coleman said: “ALCOA is trying to reverse what the law should be. They’re saying the greater the magnitude of the harm and the higher the mortality rate, the less responsibility they should have. Where I come from in Ducktown, Tennessee, that’s called bologna.”
asbestos goes to court
VICTIM of asbestos-related cancer has launched a high court legal battle against the government for compensation of up to £200,000.
David Parker (67) has developed malignant mesothelioma, a terminal cancer of the tissues surrounding his lungs, according to a high court writ.
It relates to his job as an executive officer at the Prestwich Unemployment Benefit Office in the Longfield, where he was exposed to deadly asbestos dust and fibres.
Now Mr Parker, of Prenton Way, Walshaw, Bury, is claiming damages from the secretary of state for work and pensions, whom he blames for his condition.
The writ says he developed mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos when he worked as a civil servant for the secretary of state's predecessors, the Ministry of Labour, between 1967 and 2000.
The office was subdivided with asbestos partitions, which were in poor condition, and between 1978 and 1984 the office underwent major refurbishment, when the partitions were demolished and false ceilings fitted, it is alleged.
Mr Parker says conditions were dreadful, and that it was very dusty, and that asbestos was released into the air as the partitions were demolished. Elsewhere in the building there was asbestos, on the boiler and pipework, and he thinks it likely that this too produced asbestos dust, which he inhaled.
At the end of the refurbishment work, he was given a letter on June 12, 1984, confirming that asbestos had been found inside the office, the writ claims.
It says that he became breathless in June 2006, and then developed chest pain. His condition of malignant mesothelioma was diagnosed in February 2007, and he is undergoing chemotherapy but the writ claims the disease is expected to cut his life short by around 14 years.
Mr Parker accuses the secretary of state of negligence and breach of statutory duty and says this caused his illness. He says there was a failure to provide a safe place or system of work, failure to warn him of the dangers of asbestos, and failure to keep his workplace properly ventilated.
David Parker (67) has developed malignant mesothelioma, a terminal cancer of the tissues surrounding his lungs, according to a high court writ.
It relates to his job as an executive officer at the Prestwich Unemployment Benefit Office in the Longfield, where he was exposed to deadly asbestos dust and fibres.
Now Mr Parker, of Prenton Way, Walshaw, Bury, is claiming damages from the secretary of state for work and pensions, whom he blames for his condition.
The writ says he developed mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos when he worked as a civil servant for the secretary of state's predecessors, the Ministry of Labour, between 1967 and 2000.
The office was subdivided with asbestos partitions, which were in poor condition, and between 1978 and 1984 the office underwent major refurbishment, when the partitions were demolished and false ceilings fitted, it is alleged.
Mr Parker says conditions were dreadful, and that it was very dusty, and that asbestos was released into the air as the partitions were demolished. Elsewhere in the building there was asbestos, on the boiler and pipework, and he thinks it likely that this too produced asbestos dust, which he inhaled.
At the end of the refurbishment work, he was given a letter on June 12, 1984, confirming that asbestos had been found inside the office, the writ claims.
It says that he became breathless in June 2006, and then developed chest pain. His condition of malignant mesothelioma was diagnosed in February 2007, and he is undergoing chemotherapy but the writ claims the disease is expected to cut his life short by around 14 years.
Mr Parker accuses the secretary of state of negligence and breach of statutory duty and says this caused his illness. He says there was a failure to provide a safe place or system of work, failure to warn him of the dangers of asbestos, and failure to keep his workplace properly ventilated.
asbestos causes death
EXPOSURE to asbestos while training as an electrician could have caused the death years later of an East Bergholt man.
Michael Trinder, 61, of Hadleigh Road, East Bergholt, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in February 2006 and died on June 26 this year at the St Elizabeth's Hospice, Ipswich.
During an inquest held yesterday at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court, coroner Dr Peter Dean read from statements from his family which said he had trained as an electrician during his youth.
Since then he had studied at Loughborough University and the University of Essex, before working as an acoustic consultant to the air conditioning industry.
Following his death, the cause was given as mesothelioma, which can be caused by asbestos exposure, by consultant respiratory physician Nicholas Innes.
Dr Dean said: “While he was ill Mr Trinder said the only exposure to asbestos he could recall was when changing soffit boards.
“However he could not rule out that he may have encountered it during his earlier training as an electrician, although he had no recollection of contact.
“We are left with the question of whether this was industrial exposure or domestic exposure, or one of the very small percentage of cases where there was no exposure at all.”
Dr Dean recorded an open verdict and extended his sympathy to the family who were present at the inquest on Tuesday .
Michael Trinder, 61, of Hadleigh Road, East Bergholt, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in February 2006 and died on June 26 this year at the St Elizabeth's Hospice, Ipswich.
During an inquest held yesterday at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court, coroner Dr Peter Dean read from statements from his family which said he had trained as an electrician during his youth.
Since then he had studied at Loughborough University and the University of Essex, before working as an acoustic consultant to the air conditioning industry.
Following his death, the cause was given as mesothelioma, which can be caused by asbestos exposure, by consultant respiratory physician Nicholas Innes.
Dr Dean said: “While he was ill Mr Trinder said the only exposure to asbestos he could recall was when changing soffit boards.
“However he could not rule out that he may have encountered it during his earlier training as an electrician, although he had no recollection of contact.
“We are left with the question of whether this was industrial exposure or domestic exposure, or one of the very small percentage of cases where there was no exposure at all.”
Dr Dean recorded an open verdict and extended his sympathy to the family who were present at the inquest on Tuesday .
mesothelioma causes
The main cause that can generally cause Mesothelioma is Asbestosis, which are fibers ranging from 50 microns or more in length and less than 0.5 microns in its width. The inhalation of such fibers generally results in Asbestosis.
The airflow supports its movement which makes its move in a longitudinal direction in the air. The asbestosis can penetrate respiratory walls as well.
Main Sources of Asbestos: The following are the main sources that can cause the asbestosis:
* Mining of Asbestos
* Asbestos Milling
* Construction Factory
* Textile Industries
* Fire Proofing Industries
* Paint Industry
* Plastic Industry
* Hardwares for Automobiles Industry (Brakes and Clutch)
Asbestosis is generally not confined to the people working in such industries. Their families are equally prone to this disease as well since they get exposed up to the fibrous dust coming out of the person’s clothing’s working in such factories.
The asbestos related diseases can develop in any general public if they are exposed to fibrous dust or wastes coming across from asbestos plants in the proximity of their residence. Typical residents exposure to such types of fibers is quite low, though and generally don’t relate to any diseases associated with asbestos.
Once the Asbestos fibers get inside their body, they get trapped in the form of brown colored scabbard, having rich density of iron, the asbestos bodies, which are generally found in the tissues of sputum and lungs. Then this leads to the formation of interstitial fibrosis in the lower zone of lungs sourcing to massive demolishing changes in pleurae and lung parenchyma.
Always keep yourself safe by learning how you can evade such diseases cropping up from asbestosis. Keep alert, keep fit and stay healthy. God Bless.
The airflow supports its movement which makes its move in a longitudinal direction in the air. The asbestosis can penetrate respiratory walls as well.
Main Sources of Asbestos: The following are the main sources that can cause the asbestosis:
* Mining of Asbestos
* Asbestos Milling
* Construction Factory
* Textile Industries
* Fire Proofing Industries
* Paint Industry
* Plastic Industry
* Hardwares for Automobiles Industry (Brakes and Clutch)
Asbestosis is generally not confined to the people working in such industries. Their families are equally prone to this disease as well since they get exposed up to the fibrous dust coming out of the person’s clothing’s working in such factories.
The asbestos related diseases can develop in any general public if they are exposed to fibrous dust or wastes coming across from asbestos plants in the proximity of their residence. Typical residents exposure to such types of fibers is quite low, though and generally don’t relate to any diseases associated with asbestos.
Once the Asbestos fibers get inside their body, they get trapped in the form of brown colored scabbard, having rich density of iron, the asbestos bodies, which are generally found in the tissues of sputum and lungs. Then this leads to the formation of interstitial fibrosis in the lower zone of lungs sourcing to massive demolishing changes in pleurae and lung parenchyma.
Always keep yourself safe by learning how you can evade such diseases cropping up from asbestosis. Keep alert, keep fit and stay healthy. God Bless.
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