The importance of a mesothelioma attorney is not fully appreciated by most people. Mesothelioma is an incurable form of lung cancer that is generally associated with exposure to asbestos fibers, and is probably the one form of cancer that has led to more lawsuits for damages than any other.
It would be thought that a person suffering from mesothelioma that had previously worked in the asbestos industry would have a cast iron case, but this is not in fact the case. The real facts are that mesothelioma is a term for cancer of the mesothelium, more commonly known as the pleura, the lining of the lung. The problem is that most forms of lung cancer are termed mesothelioma, and it can be extremely difficult to prove that they are caused by one source alone. This in itself could give a mesothelioma attorney a big headache. However, there is worse to come for them.
Smoking! Believe it or not around 80% of Mesothelioma cases in North America are caused by smoking - not asbestos! Hence, if a smoker contracts the disease then the asbestos companies will naturally use that as a defense, and claim that smoking was the real cause and not the asbestos. Your mesothelioma attorney now has a real fight on his or her hands to get you any compensation at all. Now that compensation for asbestos relayed cancers has reached very high levels, most asbestos companies will vigorously contest any case against them, and the services of a good attorney are absolutely essential if you are to have any success at all.
One of the problems involved here is that, just as smoking has not been definitively proved to cause lung cancer, neither has exposure to asbestos. Most doctors will agree on the relationship, but the courts require proof, and it is not there. There are still those that deny any relationship, and without cast-iron evidence their claim could be construed to be as legally valid as those of the vast majority that believe in the relationship. However, belief is not proof, even when that belief is held by over 95% of the population!
It is strange, however, that most people will accept that asbestos can cause mesothelioma while many that do so will not believe the same of smoking. It seems a case of unwilling to accept what might affect themselves. However, all of this is academic, and you will need a good mesothelioma attorney if the compensation awarded is to be sufficient to provide the palliative care that all mesothelioma patients will eventually need.
Most will require hospice care so that some of the pressure can be taken from their family, and while hospices in Europe are free, this is not true of the USA. What is certain is that a smoker will not receive the same level of compensation as a non-smoker since it has been established that smokers who are also known to have had long-term contact with asbestos are more likely to contract the disease than any other.
The importance of a mesothelioma attorney cannot be overemphasized, and if you are seeking one then there are many choose from since it is a lucrative profession. Make sure that you choose a good one, since there are also many of these around. Here are a few tips:
1. Make sure that your attorney has handled mesothelioma cases before, and that yours is not their first case.
2. Have they had previous successes in such cases, and what level of compensation have the succeeded in achieving?
3. Does your mesothelioma attorney have the backing of a good law firm, with others that can take over the case in the event of illness, or is your attorney a one man band. You are better to have a group of people helping you than a individual with this type of case.
4. Is your case being handled as an individual case or as as part of a class action. Class actions can save a lot of trouble, but can also result in a lower level of compensation - not always though, so discuss it with others who may have been involved in both before making a decision.
These are some of the aspects of your case that should be discussed with your solicitor. However, once you have considered everything related to your claim, you will always have to fall back to one simple decision. Who is to be your mesothelioma attorney and what instructions are you going to give.
Author: Tom Healy
Showing posts with label cancers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cancers. Show all posts
Sunday, August 16, 2009
The Importance of a Mesothelioma Attorney
The importance of a mesothelioma attorney is not fully appreciated by most people. Mesothelioma is an incurable form of lung cancer that is generally associated with exposure to asbestos fibers, and is probably the one form of cancer that has led to more lawsuits for damages than any other.
It would be thought that a person suffering from mesothelioma that had previously worked in the asbestos industry would have a cast iron case, but this is not in fact the case. The real facts are that mesothelioma is a term for cancer of the mesothelium, more commonly known as the pleura, the lining of the lung. The problem is that most forms of lung cancer are termed mesothelioma, and it can be extremely difficult to prove that they are caused by one source alone. This in itself could give a mesothelioma attorney a big headache. However, there is worse to come for them.
Smoking! Believe it or not around 80% of Mesothelioma cases in North America are caused by smoking - not asbestos! Hence, if a smoker contracts the disease then the asbestos companies will naturally use that as a defense, and claim that smoking was the real cause and not the asbestos. Your mesothelioma attorney now has a real fight on his or her hands to get you any compensation at all. Now that compensation for asbestos relayed cancers has reached very high levels, most asbestos companies will vigorously contest any case against them, and the services of a good attorney are absolutely essential if you are to have any success at all.
One of the problems involved here is that, just as smoking has not been definitively proved to cause lung cancer, neither has exposure to asbestos. Most doctors will agree on the relationship, but the courts require proof, and it is not there. There are still those that deny any relationship, and without cast-iron evidence their claim could be construed to be as legally valid as those of the vast majority that believe in the relationship. However, belief is not proof, even when that belief is held by over 95% of the population!
It is strange, however, that most people will accept that asbestos can cause mesothelioma while many that do so will not believe the same of smoking. It seems a case of unwilling to accept what might affect themselves. However, all of this is academic, and you will need a good mesothelioma attorney if the compensation awarded is to be sufficient to provide the palliative care that all mesothelioma patients will eventually need.
Most will require hospice care so that some of the pressure can be taken from their family, and while hospices in Europe are free, this is not true of the USA. What is certain is that a smoker will not receive the same level of compensation as a non-smoker since it has been established that smokers who are also known to have had long-term contact with asbestos are more likely to contract the disease than any other.
The importance of a mesothelioma attorney cannot be overemphasized, and if you are seeking one then there are many choose from since it is a lucrative profession. Make sure that you choose a good one, since there are also many of these around. Here are a few tips:
1. Make sure that your attorney has handled mesothelioma cases before, and that yours is not their first case.
2. Have they had previous successes in such cases, and what level of compensation have the succeeded in achieving?
3. Does your mesothelioma attorney have the backing of a good law firm, with others that can take over the case in the event of illness, or is your attorney a one man band. You are better to have a group of people helping you than a individual with this type of case.
4. Is your case being handled as an individual case or as as part of a class action. Class actions can save a lot of trouble, but can also result in a lower level of compensation - not always though, so discuss it with others who may have been involved in both before making a decision.
These are some of the aspects of your case that should be discussed with your solicitor. However, once you have considered everything related to your claim, you will always have to fall back to one simple decision. Who is to be your mesothelioma attorney and what instructions are you going to give.
Author: Tom Healy
It would be thought that a person suffering from mesothelioma that had previously worked in the asbestos industry would have a cast iron case, but this is not in fact the case. The real facts are that mesothelioma is a term for cancer of the mesothelium, more commonly known as the pleura, the lining of the lung. The problem is that most forms of lung cancer are termed mesothelioma, and it can be extremely difficult to prove that they are caused by one source alone. This in itself could give a mesothelioma attorney a big headache. However, there is worse to come for them.
Smoking! Believe it or not around 80% of Mesothelioma cases in North America are caused by smoking - not asbestos! Hence, if a smoker contracts the disease then the asbestos companies will naturally use that as a defense, and claim that smoking was the real cause and not the asbestos. Your mesothelioma attorney now has a real fight on his or her hands to get you any compensation at all. Now that compensation for asbestos relayed cancers has reached very high levels, most asbestos companies will vigorously contest any case against them, and the services of a good attorney are absolutely essential if you are to have any success at all.
One of the problems involved here is that, just as smoking has not been definitively proved to cause lung cancer, neither has exposure to asbestos. Most doctors will agree on the relationship, but the courts require proof, and it is not there. There are still those that deny any relationship, and without cast-iron evidence their claim could be construed to be as legally valid as those of the vast majority that believe in the relationship. However, belief is not proof, even when that belief is held by over 95% of the population!
It is strange, however, that most people will accept that asbestos can cause mesothelioma while many that do so will not believe the same of smoking. It seems a case of unwilling to accept what might affect themselves. However, all of this is academic, and you will need a good mesothelioma attorney if the compensation awarded is to be sufficient to provide the palliative care that all mesothelioma patients will eventually need.
Most will require hospice care so that some of the pressure can be taken from their family, and while hospices in Europe are free, this is not true of the USA. What is certain is that a smoker will not receive the same level of compensation as a non-smoker since it has been established that smokers who are also known to have had long-term contact with asbestos are more likely to contract the disease than any other.
The importance of a mesothelioma attorney cannot be overemphasized, and if you are seeking one then there are many choose from since it is a lucrative profession. Make sure that you choose a good one, since there are also many of these around. Here are a few tips:
1. Make sure that your attorney has handled mesothelioma cases before, and that yours is not their first case.
2. Have they had previous successes in such cases, and what level of compensation have the succeeded in achieving?
3. Does your mesothelioma attorney have the backing of a good law firm, with others that can take over the case in the event of illness, or is your attorney a one man band. You are better to have a group of people helping you than a individual with this type of case.
4. Is your case being handled as an individual case or as as part of a class action. Class actions can save a lot of trouble, but can also result in a lower level of compensation - not always though, so discuss it with others who may have been involved in both before making a decision.
These are some of the aspects of your case that should be discussed with your solicitor. However, once you have considered everything related to your claim, you will always have to fall back to one simple decision. Who is to be your mesothelioma attorney and what instructions are you going to give.
Author: Tom Healy
Thursday, August 6, 2009
:: Mesothelioma Prognosis ? The science of recovering lives ::
A whopping 2,000 to 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma is on the rise in United States of America. Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer and it is an aftereffect of the asbestos exposure. The cancerous cells tend to destroy the mesothelium, which is a protective sac that holds the internal organs of the body. Initially, pleura or peritoneum are affected and then it spreads to the other parts of the body. It is a fatal disease and the survival time of the victim is almost one year from the time of diagnosis depending on the treatment and other contributing factors.
What is mesothelioma prognosis?
Prognosis for mesothelioma is solely dependent on the merit of diagnosis and the treatment. If treatment is provided with much delay then the survival chance of the victim grows slimmer. Then again, survivability depends heavily on factors like treatment, type of mesothelioma as well as patients health and morale. The stage of the disease during diagnosis is the most crucial factor that decides the prognosis and the minimum survival expectancy of the victim. But disappointingly, mesothelioma unlike other cancers is somewhat difficult to stage. This is because the symptoms of mesothelioma are non-specific due to which the cells are already matured at the time of diagnosis.
What are the determining factors that lead to prognosis?
The early detection of the disease is imperative for pursuing any kind of treatment. The location and size of the cancer, response of the cancer to the treatment, the extent to which the cancer has spread, what impression does the cells give under the microscope and the patients age are some of the contributing factors that determine prognosis. It should be pointed out that diagnosis of the disease is not a child's play. Further more it becomes all the very more difficult because of the deceptive nature of the subtle symptoms of mesothelioma. Like for example, if you are coughing and you might never know that you have contracted the disease unless and until your doctor clarifies it all by providing a mesothelioma prognosis.
Do you know about the mesothelioma treatment options?
Amongst the staging systems the oldest of them all is the Butchart system, based on the extent of mass, primary tumor and segregates the cancer into four stages. The TNM system is a more recent one while the Brigham system is the latest. It uses resectability and lymph node involvement for staging mesothelioma. The traditional kinds of treatments are also prevalent in case of malignant mesothelioma. Radiation therapy exercises high-energy X-rays to eradicate cancer cells while chemotherapy does it through use of drugs. Immunotherapy helps to strengthen the immune system; photodynamic therapy uses light energy while the genetic therapy resurrects the inherent genetic defects of the patient to fight the disease.
The process of removing fluid from the chest is known as thoracentesis while fluid reduction from the abdomen is known as paracentesis. Conventional surgeries and effective drugs like L-NDDP or Platar, Endostatin and Lovastatin somewhat come to the rescue of the victims of mesothelioma. The surgical removal of a part of the chest or the abdominal lining is called pleurectomy and if the lung is removed, then the operation will be termed as pneumonectomy.
Author: Fred Lindell
What is mesothelioma prognosis?
Prognosis for mesothelioma is solely dependent on the merit of diagnosis and the treatment. If treatment is provided with much delay then the survival chance of the victim grows slimmer. Then again, survivability depends heavily on factors like treatment, type of mesothelioma as well as patients health and morale. The stage of the disease during diagnosis is the most crucial factor that decides the prognosis and the minimum survival expectancy of the victim. But disappointingly, mesothelioma unlike other cancers is somewhat difficult to stage. This is because the symptoms of mesothelioma are non-specific due to which the cells are already matured at the time of diagnosis.
What are the determining factors that lead to prognosis?
The early detection of the disease is imperative for pursuing any kind of treatment. The location and size of the cancer, response of the cancer to the treatment, the extent to which the cancer has spread, what impression does the cells give under the microscope and the patients age are some of the contributing factors that determine prognosis. It should be pointed out that diagnosis of the disease is not a child's play. Further more it becomes all the very more difficult because of the deceptive nature of the subtle symptoms of mesothelioma. Like for example, if you are coughing and you might never know that you have contracted the disease unless and until your doctor clarifies it all by providing a mesothelioma prognosis.
Do you know about the mesothelioma treatment options?
Amongst the staging systems the oldest of them all is the Butchart system, based on the extent of mass, primary tumor and segregates the cancer into four stages. The TNM system is a more recent one while the Brigham system is the latest. It uses resectability and lymph node involvement for staging mesothelioma. The traditional kinds of treatments are also prevalent in case of malignant mesothelioma. Radiation therapy exercises high-energy X-rays to eradicate cancer cells while chemotherapy does it through use of drugs. Immunotherapy helps to strengthen the immune system; photodynamic therapy uses light energy while the genetic therapy resurrects the inherent genetic defects of the patient to fight the disease.
The process of removing fluid from the chest is known as thoracentesis while fluid reduction from the abdomen is known as paracentesis. Conventional surgeries and effective drugs like L-NDDP or Platar, Endostatin and Lovastatin somewhat come to the rescue of the victims of mesothelioma. The surgical removal of a part of the chest or the abdominal lining is called pleurectomy and if the lung is removed, then the operation will be termed as pneumonectomy.
Author: Fred Lindell
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
