When a person is diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, they have several important decisions that they need to make, including whether or to to pursue legal action against those responsible for their illness. In the case of former power plant worker Gerald Sylvestre, the decision to file a lawsuit against the company that knowingly exposed him…

In the last few months, two major legal decisions have put cigarette companies and their role in smokers’ mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer into sharp focus. Two months ago in late July the Florida Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal filed by a smoker whose $8 million mesothelioma judgment against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company…

Malignant mesothelioma is a notoriously difficult condition to diagnose. The rare form of cancer generally with symptoms that are extremely similar to much more common and benign conditions – patients with pleural mesothelioma typically experience a persistent cough and those with peritoneal mesothelioma will have diarrhea or nausea with stomach pain, and in both cases…

One of the earliest symptoms that patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma experience is shortness of breath. This is caused by a few things, with one of the top causes being the pressure created by  fluid that has built up in the pleural space. Once the condition is diagnosed, physicians and  patients work together to determine…

Despite the fact that malignant mesothelioma is an exceedingly rare form of cancer, most Americans have heard of the disease and are aware that it is caused by exposure to asbestos, a mineral that was once widely used in the United States for construction and industrial purposes. That familiarity is in part due to the…

Montana is known for many things, but one of its most tragic pieces of history involves the W. R. Grace & Co. vermiculite mine, which was responsible for hundreds of deaths and thousands of illnesses from mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. The state and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have spent many years working on…

When you’ve been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, you measure your life in weeks and months rather than in years. The rare and fatal form of cancer advances very quickly after it is diagnosed, claiming the lives of its victims within two years of the time that it is identified. Researchers are working hard to find…

If you have been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, the first thing you want to know is what to do about it – what’s the best way to treat it? As disheartening as it is to learn that there is no “cure” for this rare and fatal form of cancer, you still want to know what…

Today marks the 16 year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and as the nation marks the date with memorials and moments of silence, tens of thousands of those who worked or lived near the twin towers or other damaged sites continue to worry about their risk of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. Mesothelioma is…

The widow of a man who died of malignant mesothelioma won a hard-fought battle against Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation the other day when a South Florida appeals court ruled in her favor and upheld a $9 million verdict. The company’s attorneys had maintained that there was insufficient proof that her late husband’s illness was caused…