Asbestos News Roundup: 11.1.13 – Cigarette Asbestos?

November 1st, 2013. By LucyC

A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of reported asbestos hot spots in the US from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.

Cigarettes & Asbestos Risk

It is hard to think of anything that could make cigarettes more dangerous, but back in the 1950s, certain cigarettes actually contained asbestos in their filters. Those asbestos-containing cigarettes have led to lawsuits alleging mesothelioma and asbestosis disease, either on the part of people who smoked the cigarettes or those who worked in the factory that supplied the filters. Other lawsuits alleging exposure to asbestos fibers resulting in asbestosis lung disease are still pending.

According to Daily Business Review (9/19/13), Richard Delisle was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a fatal condition linked to asbestos exposure, in 2012. He alleges that his smoking of Kent cigarettes, which reportedly used a filter that contained asbestos, contributed to his developing mesothelioma. Also included as defendants in the trial were a paper mill company where Delisle was employed and the manufacturer of the filters used in the Kent cigarettes.

A jury found the cigarette maker, Lorillard, and the maker of the filters each 22 percent responsible for Delisle’s condition, with another 16 percent fault given to the paper company. The final 40 percent was against other defendants. In all, the jury awarded Delisle $8 million, with Lorillard paying $3.52 million as a result of an indemnity agreement between Lorillard and the maker of the filter manufacturer.

Asbestos Lawsuits

St. Clair County, IL: Arlon J. Hobbs has filed an asbestos lawsuit naming 63 defendant corporations which, he claims caused him to develop asbestos lung cancer.

Hobbs alleges the defendant companies caused him to develop lung cancer after his exposure to asbestos-containing products throughout his career.

From 1950-1956 and again from 1960-1961 Hobbs worked as a die maintenance worker at General Motors. He then worked as a furnace builder at Tip Welch Die Casting from 1957 until 1961, as a maintenance worker at Acme Brick from 1962 until 1964, as a maintenance worker at Curtis Mathes from 1964 until 1965, as a maintenance worker and furnace builder at Glenvale Die Casting from 1965 until 1972 and as a self-employed general maintenance worker from 1972 until 2012, according to the lawsuit.

Hobbs asserts that the defendants should have known of the harmful effects of asbestos, but failed to exercise reasonable care and caution for his safety.

Suffering from asbestos disease, Hobbs has become disabled and disfigured, incurred medical costs and suffered great physical pain and mental anguish, the lawsuit states. Further, he was prevented from pursuing his normal course of employment and, as a result, lost large sums of money that would have accrued to him, as a result of his potentially terminal illness.

Hobbs is seeking a judgment of more than $150,000.(madisonrecord.com)

New Orleans, LA: A Louisiana man who has been diagnosed with asbestos mesothelioma has filed an asbestos lawsuit naming scores of defendants he alleges are responsible for his occupational exposure to asbestos.

Templeton Evans, a former shipyard worker and pipe-filler, alleges that from 1967 to 1977, during his employment at Avondale Shipyard’s main dock, the Harvey Quick Repair Yard and the Westwego Yard, he used and handled asbestos and asbestos-containing products. He further claims he was exposed to asbestos during his work as a pipefiller for Local 60, Murphy Oil, Union Carbide, Shell Oil, Monsanto, Hooker Chemical, Entergy Waterford III and Chevron, at various sites around the state of Louisiana. Evans alleges he contracted malignant lung cancer as a result of his many years of asbestos exposure.

The defendants, who include: Avondale Industries Inc., Northrop Grumman Ship Systems Inc., Huntington Ingalls Inc., Eagle Inc., Hopeman Brothers Inc., International Paper Company, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, McCarty Corporation, Maryland Casualty Company, Metropolitan Life Insurance, Reilly-Benton Company, Taylor-Seidenback Inc., Uniroyal Inc., Viacom Inc., Asbestos Corporation Ltd., Albert Bossier, Certain Underwriter’s at Lloyd’s, London, One Beacon Insurance Company, Entergy Gulf States, Louisiana LLC, Union Carbide Corporation, Murphy Oil USA, Chevron USA Inc., Occidental Chemical Corporation, Shell Oil Company and Monsanto, are accused of intentional misconduct, fraud and concealment or conspiracy to defraud or conceal the dangers of asbestos-containing products.

Evans is seeking an unspecified amount in damages for medical costs, lost earnings, mental sufferings and reduced quality of life.(louisianarecord.com)

New Orleans, LA: Lones James Gagnard Jr., recently diagnosed with asbestos-related lung cancer, has filed suit against several companies he alleges are responsible for his exposure to asbestos from the early 1970s.

Gagnard Jr., alleges that he was exposed to injurious levels of asbestos and asbestos-containing products from his occupational exposure from 1972 to 1974 and subsequently contracted lung cancer.

Specifically, Gagnard Jr., accuses the defendants of mining, manufacturing, selling, supplying, distributing, and using products unreasonably dangerous and known to possess inherent dangerous properties with high potential for injury, failing to warn the plaintiff as to the hazards of their products in their foreseeable use, failing to provide safety instructions to eliminate or reduce risks associated with the products, failure to inspect truthfully or adequately report product testing and medical studies, failure to properly design, producing defective products, and failure to properly package their products.

Gagnard further claims that his employers failed to provide him with a safe place to work, adequate engineering or industrial hygiene measures to control the level of exposure to asbestos and failure to warn of associated hazards.

He is seeking an undisclosed amount for all medical costs or expenses, lost earnings, mental suffering, anguish, pain, and suffering, physical pain and suffering, loss of quality of life and disability.

Gagnard Jr. filed suit against Avondale Industries, Inc., Northrop Grumman Ship Systems Inc., Huntington Ingalls Incorporated, Eagle, Inc., Hopeman Brothers Inc., International Paper Company, Champion International, US Plywood, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company as insurer of Wayne Manufacturing Company, McCarty Corporation, Maryland Casualty Company as insurer of Marquette Insulation Inc., Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Reilly-Benton Company, Taylor-Seidenbach Inc., Uniroyal Inc., Viacom Inc. as successor to CBS Corporation, Wayne Manufacturing, Albert Bossier, Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, OneBeacon Insurance Company, J.D. Roberts, and James Melton Garrett. (louisianarecord.com)

 

Tags: Asbestos, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Settlement, asbestosis, mesothelioma

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