Asbestos Mesothelioma: 3 Most Important Steps to Protect Your Rights

May 8th, 2009. By LucyC

Ever read about those people who “win” millions of dollars in settlements for wrongful death suits? Just recently a woman in Florida was awarded nearly $1 million as compensation for medical expenses and suffering, both past and future, related to the death of her husband from asbestos mesothelioma.

While that might seem like a pretty good life insurance policy, Betty McBride, widow of Woodrow McBride, would probably rather have her husband back, if she were asked. Needless to say, that’s not going to happen.

Woodrow died from lethal asbestos exposure just 1 year after being diagnosed, at the grand old age of 67—that’s just 2 years after most people retire! Unfortunately, for Betty and Woodrow, spending their golden years together will never happen. Given that Woodrow worked all his life, most of it around asbestos, I’ll bet he was looking forward to retirement.

While the McBrides had their dreams cut short, they did have time before Woodrow’s death to get their affairs in order—and file a lawsuit. That takes sharp thinking and research. Here, some tips on what to do…

First, get tested for Asbestos Mesothelioma

The first step in all of this is getting tested. If you worked around asbestos—even if it was decades ago—there’s a possibility you may be at risk for asbestos mesothelioma. The place to start is with your healthcare professional or family doctor. And better sooner, rather than later.

Next, get the facts on Asbestos Mesothelioma

Knowing where to start your fact finding can be a pretty daunting task—but there are some very good resources on the Internet that provide information on the asbestos mesothelioma, its symptoms, the risk factors, and treatments including up-to-date information on clinical trials. The mother of all them is probably the National Cancer Institute’s web page. This page leads to a number of other pages on their site all relating to mesothelioma.

Other useful sites that can help you navigate the minefield of information around treatments, clinical trials, financial assistance, compensation, social security, and legal rights include Mesotheliomaweb.org and Asbestos.com. They both have toll-free numbers that you can use to request their free information packages. Both sites are very detailed.

Then, get a Lawyer who specializes in Asbestos Claims

Once you’ve done some basic research, you’ll want to seek the professional help of a lawyer. There’s an abundance of law firms specializing in asbestos claims. A quick Google search will bring up tons of them—but it’s best to find a law firm through a reliable source, and one that doesn’t charge you up front for an evaluation of your case. Lawyersandsettlements.com has a free evaluation form that will let you submit your case details to a qualified lawyer.

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Exposure, Asbestos Mesothelioma, Lung Cancer

This was posted on Friday, May 8th, 2009 at 6:00 am and is filed under Personal Injury . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.