In 1933, the Johns-Manville Company settled with an attorney on behalf of 11 former Manville employees, all asbestosis victims. The attorney received $30,000 for the victims, in exchange for a written promise that he would not “directly or indirectly participate in the bringing of new actions against the Corporation.”
This fact did not come to light for more than 45 years. In the meantime, the company was able successfully to avoid damage suits. Had the public known about this settlement, it is likely that the hazards of asbestos would have come to light decades earlier.
Companies like Alcoa that used asbestos in its daily manufacturing processes have denied knowing that asbestos exposure could be a danger to those who worked closely with the mineral. In fact, these companies have managed to set the late-1960s as the benchmark for when they could have known about the dangers of asbestos — nearly 40 years later!
Asbestos has been linked to mesothelioma, an aggressive and deadly form of cancer. It is difficult to diagnose and symptoms often take 20-30 years to manifest. Usually, by the time symptoms show up, it is too late to save the patient.
Tags: Asbestos, asbestos exposure, Asbestosis, cancer, Mesothelioma
This kind of thing is criminal in my mind. All this time these companies have known the dangers of asbestos and still used it. All for profit I might add. What about all the people who have died because of it, many who may not have been recorded as dying by asbestos. mesothelioma is extremly fatal and the symptoms are not easily seen at first. It is a real shame this is still allowed to go on with no penalty.