Indiana Mesothelioma Patients Petetion Legislature

Mesothelioma patients and allies to their cause have made a courageous step forward in ensuring they are able to pursue legal action against companies which may have been directly responsible for exposing employees to toxic asbestos. Residents of Indiana spoke in front of the last legislative session of the year, seeking a change in a law that prohibits employees and former employees from filing a lawsuit seeking damages after 10 years have passed. An interpretation of a state law by the Indiana Supreme Court reads such that it limits the compensation workers exposed to toxic materials can receive if they do not file a mesothelioma lawsuit within a decade after the assumed exposure date.

Since the current interpretation requires that lawsuits be filed within ten years of exposure to asbestos, many of those who develop serious health concerns relating to asbestos exposure, such as asbestosis, lung cancer, or malignant pleural mesothelioma, are excluded from filing suit or seeking monetary compensation. This is due to several factors. First, properly identifying the time, place, and amount of exposure can be a lengthy process involving employment documentation, corroboration of dates and times, and discovering the materials that contained the asbestos. Second, it can take years for these conditions to manifest themselves, sometimes between 20 to 60 years to manifest any symptoms in the case of mesothelioma. This is obviously far beyond the statute of limitations on filing suits against employers for asbestos exposure and any subsequent sickness.

To this end, several workers affected by mesothelioma cancer later in life have taken up a quest to change this outdated requirement. Since much of the asbestos used in the United States was used in manufacturing throughout the first half of the 1900s, many individuals employed in the production and manufacturing industry have probably been exposed to at least some particulate matter. Again, since it can take several decades for symptoms to manifest, these workers are effectively cut off from any legal recourse seeking compensation for health care costs and lifestyle changes. Not only is the process seemingly unfair, but some argue that preventing individuals from taking proper and due legal action is immoral.

All of these serious medical conditions associated with asbestos exposure are potentially terminal. Mesothelioma is possibly the worst outlook of all those conditions; many patients diagnosed are consumed by the cancer within two years, and often within six months. Since this condition results not from a lifestyle choice but rather from an exposure hazard, it is preventable if employers and workers take proper precautions. Still, those diagnosed with these conditions often seek out an experienced mesothelioma attorney to assist with receiving monetary compensation to pay for costly treatments and improve their quality of life.