New York Personal Injury Laws

Lab Workers Exposed to Asbestos

Did you know that asbestos was used in various types of lab equipment? And that asbestos could cause lab workers – lab technicians – to develop mesothelioma later in life? Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney, and I want to talk to you about some these asbestos exposures. Now, in a lab setting, lab workers, lab technicians, work with gloves. Back years ago, those gloves when picking up a heated beaker or a hot surface– those gloves could have been asbestos gloves – gloves actually made with asbestos components. They worked with aprons for their safety protection. Ironically, these gloves were used as a safety precaution, yet they contained asbestos. Additionally, aprons that the lab technicians would wear, often times contained asbestos, to protect from heated objects, or perhaps ovens that they were working with during their lab experiments.

Asbestos pads and asbestos mats were used in lab settings. Wire mesh screens were used in lab settings. All of these things decades ago, could have contained asbestos, which exposed the worker – the lab technician – to asbestos dust during the course of their work each day, every day, over a course of a career. These exposures could cause a lab technician to develop mesothelioma years later. I’m telling you all this because you have questions about mesothelioma, and how mesothelioma is caused.

I’m Joe Williams. At my office, we deal with these issues each and every day. We represent victims of mesothelioma and their families. If you have questions, I invite you to call us, and we’ll answer your questions. Thank you very much.

Medical Malpractice in Sayville

Today on You Be The Judge. With hospitals being administered by fallible human beings, mistakes are inevitable. While hospitals have full disclosure agreements with their patients, you might be surprised to find out what happens after mistakes are made. The Center for Disease Control says tens of millions of people receive hospital services each year.

Examples of Malpractice

Over the decades the hospital industry has evolved and made necessary changes to protect patients. Nevertheless, hospitals are run by humans, and the unfortunate truth is that they make mistakes that put patients lives at risk. Researchers have long investigated medication errors. These errors show up in a variety of forms, including improper compounding the process of tailoring-made drugs for an individual, incorrectly writing out prescriptions, failing to monitor effects on patients, giving the wrong kind of medication, and administering too high or too low of a dosage.

Reporting Mistakes

A study led by Doctor Daniel Nussbaum showed that hospital employees are more likely to report mistakes under the protection of Blame-free anonymity. By giving these employees a safe environment to report mistakes, hospitals are then able to assess the reports and make appropriate changes. Before, they had very little information to work with. This progress is a good sign for both hospitals and patients.

Medication Errors Study

A recent study led by Doctor Assad Latif, examine medication errors and what happens afterward. Doctor Latif shared that, for the most part our findings were in keeping with what the existing literature tells us about the where and how of medication errors in a hospital. The most surprising finding was what we do about them.

Latif said about 98% of mistakes did not result in harming patients. However the patient and or their family is immediately informed when an error occurs barely 2% of the time despite literature supporting full disclosure and their desire to be promptly informed. Letting patients know about medication errors only 2% of the time sounds pretty scaring, doesn’t it?

Hospitals Make Mistakes

We should not assume that all medication errors threaten anyone’s well-being, or that the information would always be of importance to the patient. However, harmful mistakes do occur without patients knowing it. What do you think hospitals should do to ensure that the promised full disclosure is being fulfilled?

By: Edward Lake

Representing Railroad Employees And Passengers

I handle serious personal injury cases for both employees and passengers. The railroad industry is a very dangerous place and the laws are quite complex that apply to those cases. It’s important that  you’re represented by an attorney

Electrician Diagnosed with Mesothelioma

You’ve worked as an electrician, and you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma. You’re trying to figure out, “How did you get this disease?” Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney, and I want to talk to you about the types of exposures to asbestos that electricians faced. Now, in order to do that, I want to talk to you about a former client of mine who’s a member of Local 3, which is the electrician’s union here in New York, where we’re shooting this video right now. This particular client was diagnosed with mesothelioma, and he was exposed to asbestos in a lot of different ways. He worked with electrical panel boards, which controlled the electricity for a residential or commercial space. That’s where the electric current comes in from the street, and it is sent out through the switches to the building. In the back of the panel boards was asbestos containing Bakelite, that acted as a insulator between the busbar and the switches. From time to time, he’d have to drill or cut through that Bakelite, to fabricate the panel boards or to install and remove them.

 Where Does Asbestos Exposure Occur

He was exposed to dust from cutting the Bakelite. He also worked throughout the course of his career with switches – switches and arc chutes – which had asbestos components. Again, part of it was Bakelite, which he had to manipulate and cut during repair work, which exposed him to asbestos. This former client of mine dealt with large switchgear, which had asbestos components, as well as, large transformers, which had asbestos gaskets that had to be replaced each time the transformer was opened. He also pulled and cut wire that was insulated with asbestos insulation. All of these things throughout the course of an entire working career exposed him to asbestos on a continual daily basis. As a result of those exposures, he developed mesothelioma. Now, his mesothelioma was diagnosed many, many years after he stopped working, and that’s because– and the doctors who evaluated his case said the same thing. The exposure to asbestos, even though, many years prior, caused the mesothelioma decades later. It’s because there’s a period between 20 and 60 years – in some cases – of time between the time of exposure, and the time of diagnosis in mesothelioma.

Why am I telling you this? Because you have questions about mesothelioma. I’m Joe Williams. At our office, we deal with these issues every day. Call our office, we’ll answer your questions. Thank you.

 Car Accident Attorney

When you’re in a car accident, there are many parties involved sometimes. There is the insurance company to deal with, the police department, your doctors. You need to have an experienced lawyer to help you work through your case who has your best interests in mind. Hire the Moore Law Firm. We have the experience and the resources to guide you through the process, and enable you to have piece of mind.

What is Asbestos?

You or perhaps a family member have been diagnosed with mesothelioma and you’ve been told that mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos. What is asbestos? Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City. I can answer this question. To answer the question the first thing I can tell you about asbestos is that it’s a mineral. What that means is it’s a rock and it’s a rock that was mined out of the ground primarily in South Africa and Canada. Now there were other asbestos mines throughout the world but those are the two primary ones that we see in asbestos cases here in the United States. This mineral, this rock, asbestos came to be know as the magic mineral. The reason why asbestos came to be known as the magic mineral is for two very important properties that asbestos has. One, it’s a tremendous insulator. Asbestos fibers can’t be burn with a blow torch, it can’t be destroyed. So it’s a perfect insulator. Two, asbestos has tremendous strength, tensile strength and it was used in various products throughout the United States for those two properties. Insulating and strength. Workers in industries, in various trades were exposed to asbestos from these asbestos fibers and they later in life contracted mesothelioma. Asbestos is an industrial toxin, a poison, a carcinogen that causes mesothelioma. I’m sure you have many more questions about asbestos and the different properties of asbestos as well as mesothelioma. We can answer your questions. You should pick up the phone and call the number listed on your screen below, that’s my office number. I’m Joe Williams and we handle these cases everyday for victims of mesothelioma. This is what we do everyday. I hope you found this video informative. Thank you for listening.

Upfront Attorney Fees

When a mesothelioma victim and their family come into my office, one of the first questions they ask me is are there any upfront costs or fees for me to handle their case? Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City. I can tell you that the answer to this question is absolutely not.

 Paying to Prosecute Your Case

In a mesothelioma case, the lawyers for the victim lay out the money to prosecute the case. So things like court filing fees– to file the case, to start the case, there’s a fee in the courthouse to do that. The lawyers lay out that money. Fees associated with continuing the case, the lawyers lay out that money. Fees associated with hiring expert witnesses– a mesothelioma case requires the hiring and retaining of some very important expert witnesses in order to support the medical and exposure claims that are made in the case. All of those fees are disbursements which are laid out by the attorneys in the case. I can tell you at our firm, we never ask a client to set forth any payments, any money, until the case is concluded.

 Post-Settlement Money

What happens is the case is prosecuted until it’s completed. At that point, the money that is obtained in the form of a settlement or a judgement or verdict at trial, the lawyer takes the disbursements and pays them back, then takes the lawyer’s fee. All the remainder of the money, whether it be in the form of a settlement or a verdict at trial, all of that is the client’s proceeds from the result obtained in that case.

Contact Us With Questions or Concerns

Now you may have many more questions related to this topic and others. I’m Joe Williams. My office number is listed below. I encourage you to give a call to our office. We will answer your questions. We’re here to help you and to answer your questions. Thank you.

World Trade Center Builders Exposed to Asbestos

Did you know that dry wall installers at the World Trade Center site were exposed to asbestos?

Hi, I’m Joe Williams, I’m a Mesothelioma trial attorney, and I can answer some question that you might have about Mesothelioma exposures at the World Trade Center site.

Now, the World Trade Center, composed of seven different buildings, was the most massive construction project of its time when it was building, staring in the late 1960s and into the 1970s. And the internal walls of what was primarily office buildings were built with sheetrock. So we’re talking about massive quantities of sheetrock that was installed at the World Trade Center site by Union Drywall installers.

 Different Exposures of Asbestos

Now, when these boards of sheetrock were put up, in between the seams of each of the boards at the entire site, joint compound was installed. And it was either in a dry mix, it was mixed with water, or it was already premixed and came out of a bucket. But either way it was put between the seams wet, allowed to dry, and then sanded down. And usually tradesmen did two or three coats of this, sanding it down between each coat. And that happened throughout the entire site.

 Asbestos Products Banned

Now why is that important? It’s important because up until 1977 most joint compound continued asbestos. In 1977 the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the use of asbestos in joint compound. But before that time and during the construction of the World Trade Center, that joint compound had asbestos in it. It exposed all of these Union Drywall workers and other tradesmen who worked in the area to large quantities of breathable asbestos dust.

Now, you have Mesothelioma and you have questions about asbestos exposure, especially exposure that could have happened at the World Trade Center site. I’m Joe Williams and our law firm we handle cases for victims of Mesothelioma and their families every single day. I invite you to give us a call and we will be very happy to answer your questions. Thank you.

Insulators Exposed to Asbestos

You’re an insulator. You’ve been working with asbestos products your entire career, but you had no idea that asbestos caused cancer, and now you have mesothelioma. Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City. I want to talk to you a little bit about the types of exposures that insulators had to asbestos. Now, obviously insulators are the trade that handled insulation products. Now, I want to tell you about a client of mine who is a member of Local 12 which is the insulator’s union here in New York City.

 Past Client, Insulator

He worked with every type of asbestos insulation you could imagine. He used insulation at huge power houses here in New York to insulate large high temperature steam pipes. He worked with insulation that was applied in block form to boilers. He worked with refractory that was used in boilers. He worked with insulating cement that was used to insulate all types of equipment in power houses here in New York. He also handled asbestos containing blankets, and applied them to equipment such as turbines. He used these types of blankets and asbestos cement on other equipment like pumps. We also know that insulators used spray on insulation on the steel I-beams in large commercial structures. That asbestos was a dry product that was mixed with water through the use of a spray gun, and the asbestos insulation was sprayed onto the steel I-beams of large structures.

Contact Us with Questions or Concerns

Now these are just some of the exposures to asbestos that insulators would have had during the course of their working career. There are many more, and I’m sure you have many questions about how insulators were exposed to asbestos. I’m Joe Williams, and at our office we handle cases from mesothelioma victims every day, and we’ve represented many, many insulators. I invite you to look at the number below on your screen. Call our office, and we’ll answer your questions. Thank you.