Under the laws of every state and the District of Columbia, those who have been injured by corporate malfeasance and neglect, such as in the case of those diagnosed with mesothelioma, may have a right to sue for compensation. There are also environmental laws governing the use, handling and disposal of asbestos products, both at the federal and state level. State standards may be stricter than federal ones; however these can vary from one state to the next.
Herein lies one of the challenges of pursuing legal action. Aside from the long latency period (malignant mesothelioma symptoms, especially in it's most common form, pleural mesothelioma, may not appear until fifty years after asbestos exposure), a typical mesothelioma lawsuit may involve numerous defendants, which may be located in multiple states. Because of the long latency period, it requires a great deal of research to determine who is ultimately responsible and under which jurisdiction such a case may fall. This is one reason that there are law firms in asbestos litigation that are national ones with offices in multiple states.
There is also the issue of the law itself. Over the past quarter century, there has been an increasing legislation and policy that favors corporations over the needs of people. Many states have passed laws intending to restrict the rights of plaintiffs to sue corporate defendants. U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) attempted to introduce a bill in 2005 that would have eliminated a plaintiff's right to sue altogether. Instead, those suffering from asbestos-related diseases would have had to recover their damages from a federal fund. This bill died in committee, was re-introduced, then tabled; no action have been taken on it since June of 2006. The point here is that laws regarding asbestos and mesothelioma are constantly changing, and not always in favor of victims.
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