Mesothelioma Victims Fight to Expand Legal Rights

Indianapolis, INPatients who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos have a hard road ahead of them. There is no cure for the disease, which almost always takes the patient's life within two years of appearing. Patients who were exposed to asbestos because of their employment have filed mesothelioma lawsuits against their employer, alleging that the employer's negligence resulted in their illness. However, in at least one state, victims are having a difficult time getting their asbestos lawsuits heard.

Speaking before a legislative committee, victims in Indiana who have developed mesothelioma fought to change an Indiana Supreme Court interpretation of a state law. That interpretation gives people exposed to mesothelioma 10 years after asbestos exposure to commence legal action. The problem is that mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer—all of which have been linked to asbestos exposure—can take decades to develop, leaving patients in Indiana without any legal recourse.

One witness, Dr. David Mares, who treats mesothelioma patients, says that not only is mesothelioma almost always linked to exposure to asbestos, it can take anywhere from 20 to 60 years for symptoms to appear. Following the appearance of symptoms, patients normally die between six months and two years.

These patients want an amendment made to the current law to allow them up to two years after diagnosis to file lawsuits regarding their asbestos exposure. According to an article in the Chicago Tribune (October 1, 2009), Indiana is the only state that does not allow exceptions to state laws when patients have an illness with a long latency time.

Dorothy Kuykendall, a 76-year-old who is dying of cancer, says doctors told her that asbestos exposure is the cause of her disease. Kuykendall has not been around asbestos since 1975, but back then she handled asbestos regularly in her work. Now, she says she cannot get workers' compensation and she cannot sue her former employer.

"My family and the taxpayers are paying for the actions of the company that sold asbestos and my former employer," Kuykendall said, as quoted in an article in the Evansville Courier & Press (October 1, 2009). "It's just not fair."

Sharon Wilson, whose husband died from mesothelioma in April, 2008, spoke before the legislative committee. "Jim was a husband, a father and a grandfather," Wilson said. "I am angry with my state, that the state sees no value in my husband's life and death or the economic hardships our family now suffers."

So far, according to reports, no one has testified against the proposed amendment.