Weitz & Luxenberg Highlights Import of Mesothelioma Awareness Day

Asbestos Diseases Still Claim Thousands of Lives Each Year

NEW YORK--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Weitz & Luxenberg P.C. (www.weitzlux.com) would like to focus on some deeply sobering statistics as the country gets set to commemorate National Mesothelioma Awareness Day, September 26. More research and public awareness is necessary to eradicate the disease, a terminal form of lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, which strikes over 2,000 men and women in the United States each year.

“Men and women from all walks of life face this tragic diagnosis each year. We hear from families of former construction workers, Navy veterans, civilian shipyard workers, electricians, automotive brake mechanics and those in countless other professions who are stricken by mesothelioma cancer.”

Of this stark fact, Frank Ortiz, an attorney in the firm’s Asbestos Litigation unit said, “Men and women from all walks of life face this tragic diagnosis each year. We hear from families of former construction workers, Navy veterans, civilian shipyard workers, electricians, automotive brake mechanics and those in countless other professions who are stricken by mesothelioma cancer.”

Ortiz said the firm is grateful to have the resources to help these families in their fight for justice—and ultimately—provide a means for them to obtain financial security.

Asbestos is no longer mined in the United States, though it is still imported. A substantial amount of asbestos remaining in buildings eventually will be removed, either during remediation or demolition. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 1.3 million construction and general- industry workers are potentially being exposed to asbestos.

Those in other high-risk trades for exposure to asbestos include military veterans who served aboard Navy vessels, mechanics that repaired asbestos-containing automotive and rail brake components, and utility and energy workers. Commercial building maintenance workers repaired asbestos insulation in boiler rooms and inhaled dangerous asbestos dust. Tragically, because of the vast number of asbestos materials used in the construction and insulation of many of the nation’s aging school buildings, elementary school teachers have one of the highest asbestos disease risk rates.

National Mesothelioma Awareness Day is championed by Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF), a nonprofit that was granted permission to mount a window installation display at 10 Rockefeller Center in New York City. The interactive display, which will include both video and text information, will bring even more awareness about this disease to the thousands of New Yorkers and tourists who visit Rockefeller Center each month. MARF invites supporters to gather in the Rockefeller Center Plaza on September 26 for the live taping of the Today Show, which will feature information on mesothelioma and honor those who lost their battle with the devastating illness.

People who have been harmed by asbestos may get a free review of their potential asbestos case by visiting the firm’s website, www.weitzlux.com.

About Weitz & Luxenberg P.C.

Weitz & Luxenberg, founded in 1986, is one of the leading plaintiffs' litigation law firms in America. The firm has played leading roles in national and local litigations involving mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer, as well as defective medicines and medical devices such as shoulder pain pumps, Yaz birth control, Zimmer Durom Hip implants, Advanced Bionics cochlear implants, Hydroxycut, transvaginal mesh (TVT mesh), DePuy hips, and general negligence and medical malpractice, among others.

A forerunner in the legal fight against polluters, Weitz & Luxenberg has worked with clients harmed by the groundwater pollution in Endicott, New York, Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, Fennville, Michigan, Paw Paw, Michigan, industrial de-greasers PCE/TCE in groundwater and indoor air, the gasoline additive MTBE in water supply wells, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and PERC/PCE in coal float-sink test operations. In addition, our lawyers are also representing Gulf coast residents facing property damage and financial losses due to the BP oil spill.