A thousand things run through your mind once you are diagnosed with Mesothelioma. One of those thousand things for me was when and how I had been exposed to asbestos. My parents had 8 children and I was the second oldest. My dad had always had a desk job and my mom stayed at home to raise us kids. We lived in an old farm house that was built in the 1920’s or 1930’s and we had added an addition onto the house. I was worried that if I had been exposed so could anyone of my family members.
At the Mayo Clinic they have computers with Internet access set aside for people to use. One day I was looking up information on Mesothelioma and came across a lawyer who dealt with litigation for asbestos exposure. I sent them a request to get more information on what it was that they did. I received a package in the mail with a full detailed explanation on what it was they could do for me and how much it would be. I read the information and talked with my dad to see what he thought about me hiring a lawyer. I had never hired a lawyer or sued anyone before, it made me a bit uneasy. I wanted to be sure I was doing this for all the right reasons.
I called the number listed and was informed that they wouldn’t be able to represent me because they didn’t have offices in Minnesota. They referred me to a firm here in Minnesota and I got in touch with them. I decided to hire them as my attorney and spent many hours going over my background. They wanted to know where I was born, where I had lived, what schools I had gone to, what my parents did for a living, how to get in contact with my parents and whatever I could remember about my childhood. After they had gathered all this information they started digging into my background to find the cause of my mesothelioma. I don’t know everything they did, but it was an intensive search.
After several months and many phone calls later I was told what they had found out. They weren’t able to pinpoint a time or way I was exposed to asbestos. The schools I had attended had gotten rid of the asbestos in the building above Minnesota codes. My dad’s jobs didn’t pose any risk of exposure. They only could come up with one small asbestos possible exposure. It was when my parents added onto the house. My dad bought a board with asbestos in it to help with the installation of the burning stove that was placed in the home.
I got a small settlement from the board that my dad bought and the lawyers got a small percentage of that. I have never regretted hiring those lawyers and having them look into my background. It was a relief to know of the possibility of exposure and share that with my family. No amount of money will ever make up for the suffering we and our family will go through. The government and companies knew the dangers to asbestos exposure and many chose to use the product anyway. You do deserve some compensation for being exposed to asbestos and going through the pain associated with it. You should do research on what lawyer to hire and to be not afraid to speak with several lawyers to ensure the best fit for you.
The idea of filing a lawsuit can make you uneasy, but there’s nothing to feel bad about.
We’re victims of a crime.
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Amy L Hall
WHAT IS THE LIMIT OF TIME LAPSED TO FILE A CLAIM. IT HAS BEEN 30 YEARS SINCE MY DAD DIED WITH THIS. HE WORKED IN A SHIPYARD..I HAVE HIS DEATH CERTIFICATE , THAT STATES CANCER ,
Chris Carberg
Amy, you can call our patient support team at 1-888-572-9011 and they can provide you with exact information about the statues of limitations.
Jill Litton
You could choose to not sue, I did not call a lawyer, my cousin did she said “Jill you are getting ready to face a lot of expense and you deserve great medical care, the best money can buy”..My insurance company wants paid back to… At the time of my diagnosis I did not know anything about it, I didn’t know our government and all of those companys knew this stuff was killing people..Wow when I started to learn about it I was in shock!! How could they knowingly just kill people..Makes me so sad when I think about it, how so many people have had to lose people they love just because of greed..My dad was in the Navy, how could the government do this to the men fighting for us..Those ships were loaded with it..Every company that ever made, or used this stuff should have to pay any person with mesothelioma, who cares what place it came from the point is they knew–THEY KNEW and did not care..You stop this type of stuff by hitting them where it hurts them–pocketbook….I will say this to –I thank God for the lawyers, sure they want their money but at least they are getting the word out!! You better believe you should sue!!!!
Kendra Ferreira
My experiences with my law firm were similar, they were very kind and helpful. At the time of my treatments, my health insurance company was floundering as to whether they would or wouldn’t pay for costly treatments because it was a clinical trial. I decided to file for compensation so that I would have the money if I needed more treatments in the future that my health insurance refused to pay for.