Asbestos exposure is responsible for 10,000 bladder cancer diagnoses every year in the U.S.
Since the body eliminates asbestos fibers primarily through the urinary system, this facilitates the development of malignant tumors inside the bladder, resulting in bladder cancer. Exposure to asbestos was extremely common between the 1920s and the 1980s in occupational settings and in the military.
One could easily inhale and ingest toxic asbestos fibers, as manufacturers and employers were keeping everyone in the dark about the dangers and potentially deadly nature of exposure.
It is noteworthy that when the culprit is asbestos, bladder cancer will develop within 20 to 50 years from the person's first contact with the mineral fibers. People who already struggle with a disease caused by asbestos exposure, such as lung cancer or mesothelioma, are at higher risk of developing bladder cancer. Misdiagnosis is very common in asbestos exposure victims, which is why, if you suspect you have bladder cancer or have already received this diagnosis, we advise you to seek a second and even a third opinion from other medical specialists. If you are willing to come to Birmingham, Alabama, where our law firm is headquartered, you can undergo a free-of-charge asbestos screening. We collaborate with medical experts who have the necessary expertise to correctly diagnose asbestos-related diseases.
These are the eligibility criteria you must meet to file a claim for occupational or military asbestos exposure:
- you must have been frequently or prolongedly exposed to asbestos on the job or during active military duty
- as a veteran, you must have been discharged from the military other than dishonorably
- you must have a diagnosis of bladder cancer that is the result of asbestos exposure, with asbestos fibers being present in the malignant tumors
The documents our experienced attorneys will request from you are your employment or military records, which you must retrieve, and your medical records so that they can have a starting point in assessing your case. They will eventually determine whether you are eligible for compensation from the asbestos trust funds of the companies who manufactured the products you were exposed to. If you are a veteran who worked with the mineral, we may also be able to file a VA disability claim for you. Lastly, if you are a smoker who was also exposed to asbestos, you may still be eligible to file a claim if asbestos fibers are present in your bladder tumors.
We offer quality legal assistance to secondary asbestos exposure victims
Because of the lack of protective equipment among industrial workers, these people would often return home covered in asbestos dust, inevitably exposing their family members to harmful mineral fibers.
Usually, the wives of asbestos workers were exposed when shaking out their husbands' work clothes before washing them, whereas the children of asbestos workers came in contact with toxic fibers when greeting and hugging their fathers.
If you lived in the same house as a family member who handled asbestos in any way on the job and now have bladder cancer, feel free to contact our law firm, as we might be able to help you obtain financial compensation from the asbestos trust funds. You will have to send in the employment records of the former asbestos worker, evidence of you living together, and your medical records stating your bladder cancer diagnosis.
Our attorneys might be able to file a wrongful death claim if you lost a family member to bladder cancer
Not few are the cases in which asbestos exposure victims refuse to take legal recourse out of fear of a complex, overwhelming process or, sadly, because they pass away before having the chance to do so. This is when their surviving family members can step in and file a wrongful death claim on their behalf to obtain part of the money their deceased loved one might have been entitled to.
If you are in this unfortunate situation, please contact our attorneys, as they may be able to file a wrongful death claim for asbestos exposure if you are eligible.
You will have to send our resourceful legal team the employment or military records of your lost family member, their medical records with their bladder cancer diagnosis, and their death certificate. Our attorneys will thoroughly review your case and eventually tell you whether you can file a wrongful death claim. If you qualify, we will prepare the claim for submission, and if our endeavors are successful, you may benefit from part of the financial compensation your family member would have been entitled to.