Mesothelioma is a fatal type of cancer that is always related to asbestos exposure. Usually, mesothelioma involves the lining of the lungs. Sometimes, mesothelioma is appears in the lining of the abdomen area.

When a patient is diagnosed with mesothelioma and told of its connection to asbestos, the reaction is often the same: “I never remember being around asbestos.”

Although workers were rarely warned, asbestos was used in millions of applications across Alabama. Products containing asbestos were (and can still be) found in homes, in basements, in kitchens, in attics, in flooring, in insulation and in plumbing. At Alabama worksites, asbestos was used in blast furnaces, refineries, paper mills, textile plants, in industrial plants, in auto repair shops, in construction, in ships and at shipyards and in many other work settings.

Exposure to asbestos occurs when its tiny, dust-like particles are in the air. At some jobsites in Alabama, workers remember asbestos filling the air like snow. But more often, people never remember being exposed to its deadly fibers.

For reasons unknown to medical experts and scientists, most people who live and work around asbestos never become ill with mesothelioma. In fact, the disease is quite rare in Alabama and across the nation. But when it does occur, the consequences are almost always life changing.

Why did asbestos exposure occur so frequently in Alabama? Because our state was home to hundreds of large manufacturing facilities.

In the Tennessee Valley area of Alabama, many industries, including automobile factories and tire and rubber plants, used products containing asbestos. In the Birmingham area, asbestos could be found around steel mills and blast furnaces. In the east part of the state, thousands of men and women worked in textile mills where asbestos was often used. In south Alabama and along the Gulf Coast, many products containing asbestos were used in and around paper mills, shipyards, refineries and at loading docks.

Workers were not the only ones who experienced asbestos exposure. Their family members were at risk, too. There are second-hand cases of lung cancer and mesothelioma where men and women would wear work clothes home and unknowingly exposure loved ones to asbestos.

We know of one instance where grandparents kept their grandchild during the day. When the grandfather came home from working in an industrial plant where asbestos dust was present, he would greet his granddaughter with a big hug. Years later as an adult, the granddaughter became sick with mesothelioma very likely because her grandfather’s work clothes were covered in asbestos dust.

Because asbestos manufacturers knew of the risks associated with this deadly product, large trust funds have been created to compensate victims and family members of those suffering with asbestos-related illnesses. For more than 20 years, the Keahey Law Firm has worked with these patients and their families to collect large cash settlements to which they are entitled.

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer or asbestosis, please contact us today. We will investigate your case at absolutely no charge and find out whether you are entitled to cash settlements. If you are a family member of someone who died of mesothelioma or lung cancer, you also may qualify for significant cash settlements.

For further information, please contact the Keahey Law Firm. 1-205-871-0707.