How to Prove Asbestos Exposure for a Mesothelioma Claim

How Can You Prove Asbestos Exposure for a Mesothelioma Lawsuit?

To prove asbestos exposure for your mesothelioma legal claim, your attorney will need evidence of your exposure to specific asbestos products. They’ll draw on their knowledge of products used at known asbestos exposure sites, as well as access to resources like databases of asbestos products. They’ll use this information to clearly demonstrate the companies responsible for your mesothelioma.

Investigators

In addition to work experience, investigators will ask questions about other possible sources of exposure, such as a history of talc use. They have the training to delve into critical details about possible asbestos exposure, ensuring nothing is overlooked.

“Typically, an investigator will come and ask you questions about your exposure. Your memory is an important piece of this,” – Joe Lahav, lawyer and on-site legal advisor at The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com, says.

Product Identification Tool

This tool helps identify specific asbestos-containing products you may have encountered. Recognizing these products can significantly strengthen your case, linking your exposure to specific items.

Joe Lahav explains, “Investigators will present you with a product identification tool or big binder of different products containing asbestos. Sometimes people don’t realize products they worked with contained asbestos. They’ll say, ‘I worked with that gasket.’ Or, ‘I worked with that kind of insulation. I didn’t realize it had asbestos in it.’”

Records of Job Sites

Law firms maintain extensive records of job sites known for asbestos use. Cross-referencing your work history with these records helps your attorney can pinpoint exact locations where you were likely exposed to asbestos.

“Investigators will ask you ‘Where were you exposed? What job sites did you work at?’ Good lawyers have records of job sites all over the U.S. where asbestos was heavily used,” Joe Lahav shares.

Witness Statements

Witness statements from former co-workers can provide crucial testimony about your exposure to asbestos in the workplace. These statements help corroborate your account and provide additional evidence to support your claim.

“People that worked with you — your co-workers — are another way to prove your asbestos exposure” Joe Lahav notes.

Your legal team will gather key medical records documenting your mesothelioma.  This includes your pathology report confirming your diagnosis, a doctor’s statement linking your asbestos exposure to your diagnosis, further test results and treatment information. Your work history, employment records, pay stubs and job site records will also be gathered. Witness statements from former co-workers can help strengthen your lawsuit or claim with an asbestos trust fund.

Proving Secondary Asbestos Exposure

Proving secondary asbestos exposure involves documenting how the person living in your home with primary exposure inadvertently brought home asbestos fibers on their clothes, hair, skin or shoes. These microscopic fibers can be transferred when hugging a loved one when they get home and still have their work clothes on or when handling their laundry. They can also transfer onto fabrics, carpeting and upholstery. Inhaling asbestos fibers from secondhand exposure, like primary exposure, causes mesothelioma. 

Lawyers can help families prove secondary exposure even after the person with primary asbestos exposure has passed away. They’ll still gather work records and witness accounts to prove the primary and secondary exposure.

Key Facts About Secondary Exposure

1. A study in the Journal of Lung Health and Diseases found 30% of mesothelioma cases are from secondary asbestos exposure.
2. Most asbestos exposures at home affect women, according to the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.
3. Washing clothes with asbestos fibers raises the risk of mesothelioma and other diseases.

A long-term Finnish study published in the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute found people exposed to asbestos at home and in the environment had a much higher chance of developing mesothelioma. It also showed children who lived and went to school near an asbestos cement plant faced a higher risk of cancer later in life, especially mesothelioma. Peritoneal mesothelioma survivor Susan Dickman tells us about her secondary asbestos exposure as a child.

Experience From a Mesothelioma Survivor

“My dad worked in the boat business. He would come home from work and pick us up in his jumpsuit. Of course it had asbestos on it.”

Susan Dickman, peritoneal mesothelioma survivor

Why Proving Asbestos Exposure Matters for Legal Claims

Proving asbestos exposure is vital for mesothelioma legal claims because it establishes the defendant’s liability. Without documented evidence linking your diagnosis to a specific source of exposure, you can’t hold companies accountable or proceed with your claim.

Providing the right evidence is crucial for all mesothelioma legal claims. This includes personal injury, wrongful death and asbestos trust fund claims. For a favorable resolution, strong proof of asbestos exposure is essential.

Mesothelioma doctors confirm the diagnosis, but linking that diagnosis to exposure is the key. Your mesothelioma attorney gathers exposure evidence like documents and witness statements to build a strong case.

In the discovery phase, your attorney will collect documents and witness testimonies. This evidence boosts the odds of success in a trial or settlement.

“If you know you’ve got clear asbestos exposure — stronger evidence — and you can prove your case more strongly, the defendants are more likely to give you more money because they’re more likely to lose if they have to go to trial,” said lawyer and on-site legal advisor Joe Lahav.

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What You Can Do to Help Prove Your Case

While your lawyer will work to gather documentation and prove your case, you can help collect whatever records you may have. Assemble your tax records, documents from your military service and medical records. Talk to your doctor’s office for all the documents your lawyer recommends. 

Documentation Needed to Prove Your Asbestos Case

• Contact information for former co-workers
• Employment records (such as human resources paperwork you may have signed)
• Imaging scans showing the extent of the cancer
• Pathology report confirming your mesothelioma diagnosis
• Pay stubs proving past employment
• Physician’s statement connecting your asbestos exposure to your diagnosis

Attorney Carl Money tells us, “We get your medical records, your work history records, your union records and your military records. We get everything in one fell swoop when we meet you that first time. That way, we don’t have to bother you. You need to be visiting with your family and working on your health.” 

Survivor Story

Epifanio Figueroa: How Did You Determine Your Asbestos Exposure?

View Transcript

Well, Sam asked me where I worked.

And would and I told him I had worked in, various companies as a as a mechanical engineer as a maintenance engineer, but then he asked me, “Do you remember the equipments that you work with that contain asbestos?”

And I said, hundreds, hundreds of equipments that had asbestos. Because I worked in a sugar mill, in two sugar mills. I worked in various pharmaceutical plants.

I had worked with many equipment, being boilers, the boilers before before my time.hey cover the inside of the fire pit with asbestos.

Material container asbestos.

To, you know, isolate it from the outside. So that’s that in the boilers, they use that in the gaskets, gas, asbestos, since it’s a good non heat transmitter, they use it in very hot piping.

They use it in in clutches, in breaks.

In anything that you want to stop heat from.

In hot, they use it in covering pumps to to insulate pumps.

But also, you know, we found out now that it was bad for the human seen. So so I I used it in pumps, in boilers, in, in piping, in other equipments.

And Sam asked me, “Can you enumerate? Can you name all of those?”

So we did. I that I started to think about it and I started to remember I remember on one occasion.

I remember about seventy something companies that used asbestos.

And that’s from there we started.

Your Doctor’s Statement

Your doctor’s statement helps prove the connection between your mesothelioma diagnosis and your asbestos exposure. This medical assertion of that link is crucial for the success of your mesothelioma lawsuit. 

Your doctor should clearly state your mesothelioma diagnosis has been confirmed. They should also include your pathology report and any other tests used for your diagnosis, like CT scans, X-rays or a biopsy report. These documents help support your claim.

Your First Step After a Mesothelioma Diagnosis

“After reading the guide, I felt more confident about what was ahead.” – Carla F., mesothelioma survivor

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What Are the Challenges in Proving Asbestos Exposure?

Proving asbestos exposure can be difficult because scans like X-rays show tumors but not the presence of asbestos fibers. Doctors can test mucus, urine, feces and fluid buildup around the lungs (pleural effusions) or belly (peritoneal effusions) for fibers, but asbestos isn’t always visible. Other challenges include how long it takes mesothelioma to develop from the point of initial exposure.

Difficulties Proving Asbestos Exposure

• Long latency period: The latency period for mesothelioma is 20 to 60 years and similarly long for other asbestos-related diseases.
• Measuring asbestos fibers: It’s hard to quantify the fibers in the air, especially in temporary workspaces.
• Multiple potential sources: Asbestos fibers can come from many sources. Some people may be exposed to asbestos multiple times in their life.

Pleural mesothelioma survivor Kim Madril was exposed to asbestos in her middle and high school classrooms. For her claim, a former teacher and classmate confirmed the presence of asbestos products she encountered. Kim worked with asbestos brakes and clutches in the auto shop, and handled clay and ceramics known to contain asbestos in art class. Her classrooms likely contained asbestos since many older schools used it in construction.

Perspective From a Mesothelioma Lawyer

“The challenges of proving your asbestos exposure will be overcome by the attorneys because mesothelioma is caused by one thing, and that’s asbestos exposure. You have mesothelioma because you breathed asbestos in your lungs. So we have to figure out how you breathed that asbestos in your lungs.”

D. Carl Money, attorney at Nemeroff Law

Commonly Asked Questions About Proving Asbestos Exposure

What are the steps to filing a mesothelioma lawsuit?

It is best to hire an attorney specializing in asbestos litigation and allow them to pursue litigation against the asbestos companies and file claims against the asbestos trusts.

Answered By: Carl Money, Mesothelioma Attorney, Nemeroff Law Firm

What will navigating the legal process be like?

You should not have to navigate the legal process alone. It is best to hire an attorney specializing in asbestos litigation and allow them to pursue litigation against the asbestos companies and file claims against the asbestos trusts. 

Answered By: Carl Money, Mesothelioma Attorney, Nemeroff Law Firm

Can I file a mesothelioma lawsuit if I don’t know where I was exposed to asbestos?

Certainly. Many people are unsure of where they were exposed to asbestos.  Your mesothelioma attorney will investigate all possible exposure with you.

Answered By: Carl Money, Mesothelioma Attorney, Nemeroff Law Firm

Can I still prove asbestos exposure if my employer is no longer in business?

Yes.  Asbestos exposure can often be proven even though your employer is no longer in business.

Answered By: Carl Money, Mesothelioma Attorney, Nemeroff Law Firm