New asbestos lawsuit filed in national hotspot

New asbestos-related lawsuits filed this week include a petition filed in Kanawha County, West Virginiaâ€"one of the nation’s ‘hotspots’ in terms of the number of asbestos-related claims which are filed in this country. The popularity of the location for asbestos-related lawsuits has been high for some time, as these juries in these Kanawha County have a reputation for awarding fairly large sums of money to plaintiffs in these types of cases. Under current laws, a case can be filed in West Virginia as long as there is some type of connection between the state and the case. The new suit filed this week both involve a woman whose husband died from cancer after being exposed to asbestos while at work. Eleanor Richards filed a lawsuit in Kanawha Circuit Court on April 18, on behalf of the estate of Charles Richards, her deceased husband. Charles Richards died from lung cancer, allegedly as a result of asbestos exposure. According to the lawsuit filed by Eleanor Richards, Charles Richards was employed at the J.C. Hart foundry in Clarksburg as a molder, and was allegedly exposed to products containing asbestos while working there. As a result of the asbestos exposure and because the defendants failed to provide a safe working environment in which to work, claims the lawsuit, Charles Richards developed the lung cancer that eventually killed him. The lawsuit claims that “At all times relevant…it was feasible for the defendants to have adequately warned Charles Richards, tested their asbestos containing products, designed safer asbestos containing products or substitute asbestos free products.” In addition to the pain and eventual death suffered by her husband, Eleanor Richards claims that she has suffered from mental anguish, sorrow, and the loss of companionship once supplied by her husband, as well as the necessity of paying medical expenses and funeral costs. Eleanor Richards is seeking punitive damages as well as compensatory damages in the suit. Lung cancer suits are somewhat less common than mesothelioma suits, in terms of asbestos-related litigation. It’s often more difficult to prove that a plaintiff developed lung cancer directly as a result of asbestos exposure, because lung cancer has a variety of different causes, while mesothelioma is known to develop only as a result of exposure to asbestos. Lung cancer can, for example, develop more or less spontaneously, while this is virtually unheard of for mesothelioma. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)