Asbestos-related Illness Ignored by School District

Cincinnati, OHMore than 25 years ago, Mark Hudson (not his real name) was exposed to asbestos.

He, like many others who were exposed to asbestos, developed asbestosis. Mark's employer at the time he was in contact with the asbestos claims the exposure did not happen at their facilities. Mark has since passed away. His wife Nancy is left wondering whether or not the people responsible for Mark's asbestos exposure will be held accountable.

In 1979, Mark worked for the West Clermont School District. In addition to his other duties, Mark was told to strip pipes in some of the schools. What he didn't know was that the pipes were covered in asbestos. He worked on the pipes with no safety gear. "His employers told him not to use one," Nancy says. "I guess he didn't know about the health risks. But then, a lot of workers didn't know."

Approximately ten years after he was exposed to the asbestos, Mark had difficulties breathing. He went to a doctor who initially diagnosed Mark with pneumonia. For months he was treated for pneumonia, but his health didn't improve. Finally, Mark's doctor sent him to a lung specialist who recognized that Mark was suffering from asbestosis.

Asbestosis occurs when asbestos fibers are inhaled and cause scar tissue to develop inside the lungs. Because scarred lung tissue does not expand and contract normally, the tissue cannot perform gas exchange. This means that oxygen cannot transfer to the blood and carbon dioxide cannot be removed from the blood. In some cases, total lung capacity is decreased. In severe cases the hardening of the lungs from the scar tissue combined with the decrease in total lung capacity can cause heart failure.

The West Clermont School District refused to pay for any treatment for Mark's asbestosis, claiming the asbestos exposure did not happen in their schools. "But the lung specialist who diagnosed him said at the time of diagnosis that Mark's exposure happened around nine years ago. That was when Mark was stripping pipes for the school district." Asbestos was commonly used as insulation for pipes.

For nine years Mark lived with asbestosis. Then, exactly nine years to the day of his diagnosis, Mark died. "I went to sleep at 1:00 AM, and he was still alive," Nancy says. "I woke up in the morning and he was already dead."

Nancy would like someone to take responsibility for Mark's death. But that may never happen. A major problem is that Clermont County, where Mark died, refused to do an autopsy on Mark. "They said it was because he officially died in the hospital, so they don't have to do one," Nancy says. "But he died at home. He was dead when I woke up. He didn't die at the hospital. They said that he could be transferred to Columbus to perform the autopsy, but I would have to pay $4500 in transportation costs. I don't have that kind of money."

Mark's death certificate lists the official cause of death as a heart attack due to lack of oxygen. It does not say that he died from asbestosis or mesothelioma, another asbestos-related illness. Nancy says she has spoken to several lawyers regarding Mark's case. "But they all say the same thing," she says. "Because he did not officially die of mesothelioma, there is nothing they can do. The school board never had to pay for what happened to my husband."

"My husband was diagnosed ten years after he was exposed to asbestos," Nancy says. "There was nothing the doctors could do for him, but they verified that he had asbestosis. I don't know where to go from here."