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Mass Tort Update Asbestos Update
Part 10: Asbestos Industry Pleads Ignorance
The Asbestos Story: America's Greatest Industrial Tragedy
A Tale of Deceit, Design & Temerity
By Christopher M. Placitella
Cohen, Placitella & Roth, P.C.
Cases would continue to be defended by claiming that the Asbestos companies were not aware that people like the plaintiffs filing lawsuits could get sick from exposure to Asbestos. Internally, however, members of industry acknowledge that defenses premised on such false claims will eventually fail:
Claims (sic) had a limited success in using available defenses of statute of limitations and state of the art, and as evidence mounts, it becomes impossible to use these defenses. If producers of Asbestos can be shown to have known of the dangers and failed to control it, or adequately warn those exposed to Asbestos.
Inside the industry, some executives acknowledge that as the truth about Asbestos dangers is exposed, the number of claims will certainly rise:
Action is imperative now because the public is becoming increasingly aware of the Asbestos hazard, and what it is, has, and can do to it: Consequently, we expect the reservoir of sleeping claims to shortly be breached: Eventually those standing closest to the dam will be overwhelmed first.
Insurance company executives predict that all those responsible will be held accountable:
It should be recognized that there are classes of Asbestos exposure and those which make or distribute significant amounts of Asbestos and are Fortune 500 stature are the classes to be dealt with first. Next would be those who expose others to Asbestos through the use of Asbestos in making their products or in the day-to-day operations, last would be those who incidentally used Asbestos or sell it.
The Asbestos Industry initially predicts that a minimum of 25,000 workers will die from Asbestos exposure. Estimates within the insurance industry concerning the eventual death toll vary. One insurance carrier estimates that as many as 65,000 Americans will die from Asbestos. Another insurance company predicts that as many as 400,000 people will be sick enough to file claims for Asbestos disease:
400,000 potential plaintiffs could generate 2 million files.
And these estimates don't even include claims for wives, people living near factories and school children.
This figure does not take into consideration other possible cancer victims of Asbestos, such as wives of workers, persons living near Asbestos factories, school children, etc.
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