3.
What Did the Asbestos Companies Know And When Did They Know It?
The companies that manufactured, sold and installed asbestos
products had extensive knowledge of the deadly hazards of asbestos
as early as 1920. Yet, these corporations waited decades to provide
warnings to workers and to the general public. In some cases,
warnings were never provided.
In addition to this actual knowledge on the part of asbestos
corporations, the evidence available in medical books and journals
revealed the dangers of asbestos exposure long before millions of
American workers were exposed.
Here's a brief timeline of the known dangers:
Late 1800's: The first
reports of lung disease in people working in asbestos factories.
1918: US government
report stating that it was the practice of American and Canadian
life insurance companies not to sell coverage to asbestos workers
due to the assumed injurious health consequences. A reference
reports that the Chief Inspector in England is aware of deaths and
lung disease in workers at asbestos plants.
1924: British medical
journal publishes first widely available article describing death of
a 33-year old woman who worked in an asbestos textile plant.
1927: A pathologist
issues a report describing asbestosis as a disease that involves the
scarring of the lungs and shortness of breath. The report indicates
that asbestosis could be fatal.
1928: Journal of the
American Medical Association publishes editorial called
"Pulmonary Asbestosis." Articles and case reports
describing incidence of asbestosis are published in the United
States and worldwide.
1930: Dr. Merewether, a
famous researcher, publishes first clinical examination of hundreds
of workers in the asbestos industry. He found that one out of four
workers was suffering from asbestosis. Dr. Merewether further
concluded:
* That asbestosis was a
disease of latency, i.e. that workers exposed to asbestos wouldn't
show signs of injury for many years;
* That asbestos dust
had to be controlled through ventilation and the use of respirators.
* That workers exposed
to asbestos should be informed and warned in order to assure a
"sane appreciation of the risk."
* That the finished
products created dust that should be controlled and minimized.
Dr. Merewether's medical description of asbestos disease mirrors
exactly the description of the disease today. His recommendations,
if implemented by the asbestos industry, would have saved tens of
thousands of lives and injuries to American workers.
1930s: Reports
demonstrated that asbestosis was occurring in workers with as little
as nine months of exposure.
1933: First American
case report of asbestosis in an insulation worker.
1934: Researchers
report cases of asbestosis and lung cancer in an asbestos factory.
Many of the workers had less than six months of exposure to
asbestos. Reports were also published of asbestosis from workplace
exposure to products, including boiler workers, custodians and
insulators.
1942: Researchers
report that lung cancer in building trades workers is likely caused
by asbestos. Dr. Heuper, a noted occupational physician and the
first chief of the environmental cancer section of the National
Cancer Institute, suggests that asbestos causes Asbestosis as well
as cancer in the manufacturing process as well as through finished
building products such as insulation and packing materials. In 1949,
Dr. Heuper warns that asbestos was a cancer risk to the general
population. By this time there were over 200 references in the
widely available literature regarding asbestos and disease.
1943: First case of a
mesothelioma-like tumor reported.
1947: Dr. Merewether
finds that 13% of asbestosis cases also had cancer of the lungs or
pleura.
1949: Encyclopedia
Brittanica lists asbestos as a recognized cause of occupational and
environmental cancer. The Journal of the American Medical
Association concludes that asbestos is probably linked to
occupational cancer.
1953: Mesothelioma is
reported in an asbestos insulator.
1955: A major
epidemiological study demonstrates that asbestos workers have a
tenfold risk above the general population of contracting lung
cancer.
1960: Another
epidemiological study confirms reports that exposure to asbestos
causes mesothelioma. This study also included the children and wives
of asbestos workers who contracted mesothelioma.
1964: Dr. Selikoff, a
major researcher at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York, confirms
widespread disease among asbestos workers and from family members
living with asbestos workers. A large number of job titles were
implicated in the report, including construction workers,
electricians, plumbers, carpenters, etc. Selikoff pointed out that
asbestos did not "respect" job titles and could harm any
person who breathed in asbestos.
After 1964, the medical literature continued to identify asbestos as
a major carcinogen and environmental hazard. Over 200 publications
described the hazards of asbestos by the end of the 1960's.
Notwithstanding this knowledge, and the death that resulted from
breathing in the dust from these products, the manufacturers and
installers of these materials continued to sell and install asbestos
products without warning workers, reducing the dust or substituting
equally effective materials in place of the asbestos. Tragically,
many companies had secured additional knowledge regarding the
connection between asbestos and cancer as early as the 1930's.
However, these companies altered research reports to hide these
findings from the public.
The knowledge listed above only reflects a small sample of the
evidence that Belluck & Fox uses on behalf of its clients.
Additional information is gathered for each individual case.
New York law limits your time to bring a
legal claim. To protect your rights, you need to have your personal
injury claim evaluated immediately. To have your claim evaluated,
please fill out this form or contact us at: bfinfo@belluckfox.com
Belluck & Fox, LLP
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37th Floor
New York, NY 10017
(212) 681-1575
