What Should Be Your First Steps After Receiving a Mesothelioma Diagnosis?

What Causes Mesothelioma?

The single known cause of malignant mesothelioma, a rare but incurable cancer, is exposure to asbestos. If another party was responsible for your own exposure to asbestos, after you receive a mesothelioma diagnosis, get in touch at once with a California mesothelioma attorney.

Mesothelioma is a cancer that may take decades to develop after exposure to asbestos. It occurs in the lining of the abdomen, chest, heart, and lungs. Every year in the United States, approximately three thousand people are diagnosed with mesothelioma.

In all fifty states, if you were exposed to asbestos due to an employer’s negligence or because a property owner, manufacturer, or contractor was negligent, you may be entitled by law to recover compensation for your medical treatments and care, your lost earnings, and your related losses.

Who is at Risk for Mesothelioma?

Asbestos was used in manufacturing, construction, shipbuilding, and by the military until the 1980s, but the Department of Labor estimates that more than a million construction workers and others are at risk – today – for mesothelioma.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Act, which took effect in 1970, now protects most workers in the United States from asbestos exposure, so people who are age 60 and older face a significantly greater risk than the risk for those under the age of 50.

In fact, workers exposed thirty or forty years ago to asbestos may only now be receiving a mesothelioma diagnosis. Many workers have been exposed to, or have used talcum powder which at the industrial level has the highest levels of asbestos. These workers may qualify for workers’ comp benefits, and they may be allowed to bring injury claims against the parties responsible for their asbestos exposure.

What Other Steps Should You Take?

Contacting a California mesothelioma lawyer is essential after you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma, but you will also have to make a decision about your treatment. Mesothelioma treatment options include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and surgery.

Based on where the tumors have formed, their cell type, and their progress, your doctor will offer a recommendation for treatment. Your doctor can also tell you about clinical trials and innovative therapies.

Another step you should take after receiving a mesothelioma diagnosis is to seek a second opinion from a mesothelioma specialist. A specialist can often provide a more accurate diagnosis than a general oncologist and suggest additional treatment options.

Mesothelioma remains incurable, but many patients benefit from immediate, appropriate treatment and a commitment to a healthy lifestyle. A great deal depends on the type of mesothelioma, its progress, and the patient’s health apart from his or her cancer.

How Will a Mesothelioma Lawyer Assist You?

If you are diagnosed with mesothelioma, it is critical to discuss your rights promptly with a mesothelioma lawyer. If you worked with asbestos, even decades ago, or if you shared a home with anyone who worked with asbestos, get checked for mesothelioma as quickly as possible.

Proving another party’s negligence can be a challenge, but in states that allow you to file a strict liability claim, you aren’t required to prove any negligence. Instead, you and your attorney will only need to prove that you were exposed to asbestos and your exposure led to mesothelioma.

If you bring a claim based on negligence, you and your attorney must prove that the negligent party owed you a duty of care and overlooked or neglected that duty. You and your attorney also must prove that the direct cause of your exposure to asbestos was the other party’s negligence.

Although the laws slightly vary from state to state, a mesothelioma attorney will work to trace your exposure to asbestos and hold the negligent party liable. Your lawyer will seek an out-of-court settlement or a jury verdict that covers your treatments, lost wages, and related expenses.

Is There a Deadline for Taking Legal Action?

Each state sets its own deadlines for filing mesothelioma claims. The legal deadline for bringing a personal injury claim based on mesothelioma ranges from one to six years. If you have missed your own state’s deadline, you may be allowed to file your claim in another state.

And even if you were exposed to asbestos decades ago, you may still qualify to file a claim. In most states, the statute of limitations period begins when your mesothelioma is diagnosed or discovered or “should have been” diagnosed or discovered, and not with your asbestos exposure.

If you have ever been exposed to asbestos, schedule a mesothelioma check-up as quickly as possible. If your cancer “should have been” diagnosed or discovered sooner, ignoring your symptoms now could make you ineligible to recover compensation.

How Are Mesothelioma Claims Handled?

Most personal injury claims are settled out-of-court when the lawyers for both sides privately negotiate a settlement. However, if the liability for your asbestos exposure is denied, or if no acceptable settlement offer is made, your attorney will take your claim to trial.

At a personal injury trial, your California mesothelioma attorney will tell the jurors how your asbestos exposure took place, how your health subsequently declined, how your cancer was diagnosed or discovered, and why the jurors should order the negligent party to compensate you.

There is no need to conduct an extensive search to locate a mesothelioma attorney. From anywhere in the nation, you can speak to a California mesothelioma lawyer who works with attorneys nationwide to offer the personalized advice and aggressive representation you need.

Frost Law Firm Fights for the Victims of Mesothelioma

Even if your medical bills are overwhelming, you can still afford an attorney’s advice and services. When you are a client of Frost Law Firm, you pay no lawyer’s fee upfront, and you pay no fee until you are compensated with a settlement, a jury verdict, or workers’ comp benefits.

California personal injury lawyer Scott L. Frost has been fighting for the victims of negligence – and recovering the compensation they need – for more than eighteen years. For mesothelioma patients, Frost Law Firm offers your first case evaluation with no cost or obligation.

To learn more about your rights and your options for recovering compensation, call Frost Law Firm at 866-FROST-WINS from anywhere in the U.S. If you were exposed to asbestos through no fault of your own, Frost Law Firm will work aggressively and effectively on your behalf.