New York Personal Injury Laws

Lung Cancer Versus Mesothelioma

When new clients come into my office, they often talk to me about their lung cancer. They mention mesothelioma, but they don’t really understand the difference. I want to talk to you about that difference now. Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney, and I want to talk to you a little bit about these two different diseases, both of which can be caused by asbestos. First let’s talk about lung cancer. Lung cancer is a malignancy that grows within the lung itself. Now, here in this anatomical drawing, the lungs are represented here. This is known as the lung parenchyma. It’s a spongy organ that is within the bony rib cage. Now, lung cancer as it’s known– and there’s many different cell types of lung cancer. But lung cancer just generally, is a discrete tumor inside the parenchyma, inside the tissue of the lung.

So you’ve heard the term golf ball-like tumor. Sometimes, doctors refer to it as a nodule. That’s the kind of tumor that happens within the lung tissue. Again, there’s different cell types, but it’s generally called lung cancer. Now, mesothelioma is very different. Mesothelioma is a very specific cancer, and it’s really only two different cell types – epithelial mesothelioma or sarcomatoid mesothelioma – or it can be a combination of the two. That’s called biphasic mesothelioma. But no matter which cell type it is, mesothelioma is a tumor – a malignant tumor – of the lining outside the lung. Now, outside the lung, you see this whitish grey substance here. That’s the pleura. There’s a parietal pleura and a visceral pleura, and these two pleural surfaces interact with the outside of the lung and the inside of the rib cage, and in-between the two of them, there’s a little bit of liquid. So as our diaphragm involuntarily contracts, it pushes the spongy lung tissue – the spongy lung organ – up, and allows us to take a breath. The pleural surface allows the lung to slide along inside the bony rib cage. And we don’t even know it happened, it’s involuntary.

When someone has malignant mesothelioma, a tumor of these pleural surfaces, just breathing can cause pain. Also, the tumor pushes in on the spongy lung tissue, contracts the lung. You can’t get a full breath. Mesothelioma victims experience shortness of breath because of that. The mesothelioma tumor does not grow like a golf ball. It’s a diffuse tumor that grows in a diffuse pattern along the pleural surface, and tends to encase the lung area. Some have described it like a rind of a grapefruit. It’s a diffuse tumor. Those are some of the differences between lung cancer and mesothelioma. I’m telling you this, because you have questions about mesothelioma, about asbestos exposure.

I’m Joe Williams. At my office we handle cases for victims of mesothelioma and lung cancer every day. We deal with these issues, deal with these questions each and every day. If you have questions, I invite you to contact our office. We’ll answer your questions. Thank you for watching.

Asbestos Exposure to Mesothelioma Diagnosis

How long does it take to get mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos? Hi. I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City. And to answer this question, we have to talk about the concept that doctors and scientist refer to as latency.

What latency basically means is the time from exposure to a known carcinogen, to the time when that patient is diagnosed with cancer. And to illustrate the point, I want to give you an example. Let’s say that I have a cough, and I cough into my hand.

I now have those germs on my hand. I then go and I meet you socially and say, “Hi, how are you? I’m Joe Williams. Nice to meet you.” And we shake hands. I then transfer, unfortunately for you, those germs to your hand.

You then wipe your face or your mouth, and the germs go into your system. Well, not surprisingly, three days later you start coughing. That cough, that cold, had a three day latency period. It’s very similar when we talk about mesothelioma.

The difference is the time frames involved. And it’s widely accepted by doctors and scientist throughout the world, that there is a very significant latency period for mesothelioma. From the time of exposure, perhaps a powerhouse worker working in a powerhouse in the ’50s.

Or a machinist mate on a aircraft carrier in the US navy in World War 2, could today be diagnosed with mesothelioma. The latency period, again widely accepted by the entire medical community, could be that long.

Anywhere from 20 years, 15 years, all the way up to 60 or more years, from the time of that exposure to asbestos to the time when that diagnoses of mesothelioma is made. Why is that important? It’s important because the nature of this disease requires us to journey back, and evaluate those exposures that occurred decades, sometimes many decades ago.

And it’s important to be able to take a thorough occupational history, to figure out all the possible exposures to asbestos for a mesothelioma victim. Now, you may have many more questions about latency as it relates to mesothelioma, and I can provide the answers.

I’m Joe Williams, and in our firm we deal with these issues every day. We represent victims of mesothelioma every day, and we can answer your questions, and we’ll be happy to do that. So look at the number below and call our office, and we’ll answer your questions. Thank you very much for watching. I hope this was informative.

Carpenters Exposed to Asbestos

You’re a carpenter, you’ve been exposed to asbestos and now you have mesothelioma. You’re trying to figure out what caused your mesothelioma. Hi, I’m Joe Williams and I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney and I can answer your questions about how carpenters who are exposed to asbestos. Now as a carpenter you worked with many things on large commercial job sites and also smaller residential job sites. But what we know about carpenters is they’re exposed to everything on those jobs. So a carpenter might be installing some cabinetry, might be working on some woodworking in one section of a room while another trade is putting up sheet rock and using asbestos containing joint compound. A carpenter might be doing some mill work in one portion of a room while another trade is starting the installation of asbestos containing floor tile 10 or 15 feet away. All of these are real exposures to asbestos dust for both the carpenter as a by stander and the floor tile mechanic or the dry wall taper who’s working with that asbestos containing joint compound. In addition, many carpenters over the years have told me that they also did these other types of construction work that put up walls with sheet rock and asbestos containing joint compound. That they installed asbestos containing ceiling tiles and drop ceiling. That they worked with asbestos containing floor tiles themselves. That that was all part of the work that they did as a carpenter. As a carpenter it’s not just the work that you did it’s certainly the work you did as well as the work that others did around you. All of this work created asbestos dust from working with various asbestos products which you breathe and that is one for the reasons why you have mesothelioma. I’m sure you have many more questions about mesothelioma and we can answer your questions. I’m Joe Williams, we represent victims of mesothelioma everyday. I invite you to call my office at the number below and we’ll answer your questions. Thank you.

Shipyard Workers Exposed to Asbestos

You worked in shipyards, and now you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and you’re wondering what caused your mesothelioma. Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney here in New York City, and I can answer your questions. We know that shipyards were filled with asbestos. Shipyards such as here in New York are good examples– the Brooklyn Naval Yard. The Brooklyn Naval Yard, that’s where the ships were built during World War II and thereafter, and they were worked on, serviced, built from the ground up, as well, in that yard. There’s also private shipyards that are not naval yards, where non-naval ships were worked on, both built, constructed, maintained, and repaired. Whether it was the building of a new ship, or the repairing of an existing one, the work was the same, and it involved working with asbestos products, such as insulation, insulation on steam pipes, insulation on equipment such as large boilers on these ships, asbestos blankets, which were put on turbines on these ships. Asbestos gaskets were cut and fabricated at these shipyards to use on these pipes, on the steam pipes, on the hot water pipes on these ships, and that’s something that happened often, almost every day, at a shipyard. Bags of asbestos cement, high temperature asbestos cement, as well, would be used and mixed with water, and applied to the piping, the equipment, and the machinery on these ships, and at these shipyards. So, there are a multitude of exposures to asbestos that a shipyard worker would have. I’m sure you have more questions about how shipyard workers were exposed to asbestos. Well, we can answer those questions. I’m Joe Williams. I invite you to call the number below. We’ll answer your questions. We help mesothelioma victims every day. We’ll answer your questions. Thank you for watching.

Diseases Caused by Asbestos Exposure

Let’s talk about some of the diseases that exposure to asbestos can cause. Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma and asbestos attorney in New York City. I can answer some questions for you as to the asbestos related diseases that are widely accepted in the medical and scientific community. These would be broken down into two types of diseases.

Non-Cancerous Diseases

The first are what we call scarring diseases, which are not cancerous diseases. The second are malignant diseases, which are a cancer process. So the first two diseases I’ll talk to you about is asbestosis and pleural plaque. Asbestosis is a fibrotic scarring of the inside of the lungs. The doctors will call it the parenchyma or the meat of the lung. A fibrotic scarring on the inside of the lungs, which can cause a lot of disability. It’s not cancer, but it can be quite serious.

The next non-cancerous disease is known as pleural plaques. And the pleura is a sac-like lining outside the lung. So if you think of a piece of saran wrap. That’s the texture of the pleura. And the pleura can develop scarring from the asbestos fibers that a worker breathes in over the course of their life. On a CAT scan, or even sometimes on an X-ray, these show up as what’s called as pleural plaques. Again, not cancer but can be serious.

Cancerous Diseases

With respect to the cancerous diseases, there’s two that I want to focus on today. The first is lung cancer. Lung cancer is a cancerous tumor, a malignant tumor in the meat of the lungs, in the lung parenchyma. And the second cancerous diseases caused by asbestos that I want to focus on today, and it’s certainly the most important asbestos related disease because of the severity of it, is malignant mesothelioma.

Malignant mesothelioma of the pleura is a cancerous tumor that grows on that pleura surface that I described a moment ago, that saran wrap-like sac that surrounds the outside of the lung. This malignant mesothelioma tumor grows in a diffused pattern. If you think the rind of a grapefruit. Sometimes people think of a cancerous tumor as, what we call like a golf ball tumor. Malignant mesothelioma doesn’t grow in that way. It’s more of a diffused pattern, like the rind of a grapefruit, and it’s caused by exposure to asbestos.

Now I’m sure you have many other questions about the disease pattern and the diseases caused by asbestos, and we can answer those questions. I’m Joe Williams and everyday at our firm, we handle cases from mesothelioma victims and their families. And we certainly can answer your questions, and we’d be happy to do that. I hope you found this video informative, and I thank you very much for watching.

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.

Types of Injuries

At the Maurer Law Firm, I’ve had clients who’ve come to me as a result of many different types of injuries. They may have been injured in a car accident. They may have fallen at work. They may have been a victim of medical malpractice. Whatever the cause, they all have something in common – their lives have been turned upside down. They don’t know what’s going to happen next. They don’t know if they’ll ever return to work, or if they’ll be able to make their mortgage payments. These are serious issues that are taken very seriously here at the Maurer Law Firm.

The litigation process can be complex and overwhelming. My experience and dedication to your case will help educate you on the process

Personal Injury Lawsuit Timeline

I’m Ira Maurer with a public service law tip. If you’re a personal injury victim, one of the questions you probably have is if I commence a lawsuit to recover my damages, how long is it going to take? There are numerous factors that will govern exactly how long a lawsuit will take. Where you bring the lawsuit is one important factor. You can bring it in New York State Supreme Court or you can bring it in the Federal District Court if you meet the criteria.

 Recovery Process Is Important

Second of all, where you are in your medical treatment is a very important part of the equation. If you recover quickly from an injury, it’s possible to settle a case before even starting a lawsuit. Insurance companies may be interested if they’re clearly responsible for your injury in settling out a case without having to spend a lot of money for a law firm to defend them.

So what happens if your injury takes a long time to be treated? Well I always recommend that you take your time. The last thing you ever want to do is settle a case prematurely before you know the full extent of your injuries. Are you going to be left with a disability? Are you going to have some problems with your earning capacity? Are you going to earn less money? Are you going to need further treatment that will cost money? All these things take time to answer. So the more serious the injury, an injury that may require surgery or multiple operations, these are things that all can impact on how long it takes for a lawsuit to come to conclusion. The best thing you can do is ask these questions when you go in to see a personal injury lawyer.

For more information, contact the Maurer Law Firm at maurerlaw.net.

Dentists and Dental Technicians Exposed to Asbestos

Did you know that dentists and dental technicians are being diagnosed with mesothelioma from their work in dental labs years ago?

Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney, and I want to talk to you about some of these exposures to asbestos. So someone who now is an older gentleman, and is a dentist, and has been a dentist their entire career is diagnosed with mesothelioma, and they’re trying to figure out how could they have been exposed to asbestos, because all their doctors are telling them that the mesothelioma diagnosis is from asbestos. It’s caused by asbestos. So they journey back on the history of their life to determine if there’s ever a time when they worked with asbestos.

 Possible Ways of Exposure

And what we’ve found is that back when they were in dental school, they worked making crowns, and they used a method called the lost-wax method. And what that means is that wax is placed into an object, and it is used to make a mold for the crown. But what’s important about this process is that the lining underneath the wax is an asbestos-containing paper, and it’s used to withstand the high heat of when this mold is placed into the oven.

Now the dental technician – or the dental student in the example I’m giving, who later became a dentist – had to cut that paper and manipulate it, and it’s made of asbestos. And in doing that repeatedly over a course of time, exposed that person to asbestos dust, asbestos fibers that they breathe, which cause them to – decades later – be diagnosed with mesothelioma.

 Contact Us with Questions and Concerns

Now I’m telling you this information, because you have questions about Mesothelioma and how it is caused. I’m Joe Williams. At my office, we deal with issues like these every day, and we answer questions every day for mesothelioma victims and for their family members .

If you have questions, I invite you to contact our office, and we’ll answer your questions.

Thank you.