Tag Archives: Mesothelioma

Workers’ Compensation for Occupational Disease Differs between Nebraska, Iowa

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chimney sweepWorkers’ compensation is designed to cover occupational diseases, whether they are chemically induced or triggered by one’s job over the course of time. The difficulty in dealing with these occupational exposures as they relates to workers’ compensation claims and benefits is inherently in the diseases themselves. In most cases, the disease conditions do not develop until years later.

Such occupational diseases include, but are not limited to, the following. The information below also includes the time it may take to develop these diseases, according to this article from The Center for Public Integrity:

Mesothelioma, a cancer triggered by asbestos: Typically 30 years or more

Bladder cancer, associated with coal tar, metalworking fluids and other workplace hazards: Typically 15 to 40 years

Lung cancer, linked to chromium, nickel, asbestos and other workplace hazards: Typically 10 to 30 years

Asbestosis, an asbestos-caused scarring of the lungs: Typically 10 to 20 years

Silicosis, a lung disease triggered by silica dust: Typically 10 years or more

Parkinson’s syndrome, associated with pesticides, trichloroethylene, manganese and other workplace hazards: Unclear latency period, but while it can come on quickly, the lag time is likely more than a decade; average age of onset is 60”

Others: “… Trichloroethylene is a known human carcinogen; methylene chloride is considered a likely cancer-causing agent. Trichloroethylene in particular is associated with a variety of ailments — Parkinson’s, liver and other cancers, neurological problems and kidney damage among them.”

Workers have to suspect they were exposed to such things at work and ultimately need to demonstrate the exposure they encountered and have medical evidence supporting the relationship between the exposure and the disease they suffer from. Usually, one must show the work exposure was more likely than not to blame as opposed to all possible outside causes.

However, workers face deadlines to filing a claim for occupational diseases based on the amount of time elapsed since the last exposure to the hazard. Nebraska typically favors that such deadlines don’t begin to run until workers know or should have known that they have an occupational disease that is related to an exposure where they worked. This is typically known as a latent and progressive claim.

Unfortunately, Iowa is not one of the states favorable to exposed workers, according to The Center for Public Integrity article.

“If workers there do not become disabled or die within one year of the last ‘injurious’ exposure, or three years if the hazard causes one of the lung diseases categorized as pneumoconiosis, they’re out of luck.” There are some rare exceptions involving “radiation, in which case workers are allowed to actually find out that they have a disabling occupational illness before the clock starts ticking.

“Paul J. McAndrew Jr., an Iowa lawyer who has represented employees in workers’ compensation cases for 25 years, called the state’s deadline rule ‘a patent injustice’ that requires him to tell very sick people that they have no legal remedy against their former employer.”

If you or a loved one believe or are suspected to be suffering from an occupational exposure disease, please contact an experienced attorney.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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All Forms of Asbestos Cause Cancer

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Today’s post comes from guest author Jon Gelman from Jon Gelman, LLC – Attorney at Law in New Jersey. I thought it was an especially timely reminder about the hazards of this material because a Nebraska company was recently fined $25,000 for “the illegal abatement and disposal of asbestos.” The company tried “to save $14,000” instead of having the asbestos-removal firm they’d hired finish it properly. I am pleased this company was held accountable for its actions, as it is consistent within scientific research that asbestos is harmful and has long-term effects on humans. I hope the workers who demolished this building – possibly without the proper safety equipment, the story didn’t say – will be spared the potential repercussions of unsafely handling this material just so their employer could save some dollars. And I also hope the employer learned from the ill-advised shortcut that it doesn’t pay to attempt an end run around keeping workers safe.

In a joint statement the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) again declared all forms of asbestos cause cancer.

Joint WHO/IARC Statement 
19 February 2013

In response to allegations in the recent Lancet article, IARC in the dock over ties with asbestos industry (The Lancet, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60152-X), WHO and IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) state the following:

  • All forms of asbestos are carcinogenic to humans (IARC Monographs Volume 100C) and stopping the use of all forms of asbestos is the most efficient way to eliminate asbestos-related diseases (WHO Fact Sheet No 343).
  • The study on cancer in chrysotile workers in Asbest, Russian Federation, for which IARC is providing its epidemiological expertise, will supply important scientific information to better quantify the risk of cancers already known to be related to chrysotile as well as additional cancers suspected to be related to chrysotile, the asbestos fibre is the most commonly produced.
  • WHO and IARC take conflict of interest seriously and use a rigorous process to protect our research and development of norms, standards and guidelines from undue influence.
  • IARC confirms the completeness and accuracy of all data and statements of scientific results published in the British Journal of Cancer (Estimating the asbestos-related lung cancer burden from mesothelioma mortality, doi:10.1038/bjc.2011.563) and presented at a conference in Kiev.

IARC, as WHO’s cancer research agency, remains committed to providing the most reliable, independent scientific evidence on which public health decisions can be based.

Click here to read more about “asbestos” and workplace exposures

Feb 04, 2013
The International Ban Asbestos Secretariat today reports about the corrupt connection between the Russian asbestos industrry and the IARC (the International Agency for Research on Cancer). To advance the mining and …
 
Jan 31, 2013
Recently release statistics from the US Geological Survey brings some hope to reducing asbestos disease in the US. Historically, as the production of asbestos fiber lowers, so does the incidence of asbestos related disease, …
 
Jan 30, 2013
It is unconscionable in this day and age for a worker who is exposed to asbestos fiber in the workplace. Ironically, in the 1950’s, in Paterson, NJ, the city where the world renown asbestos researcher, Irving J. Selikoff MD, had …
 
Nov 29, 2012
In a new report, Fitch examines a range of loss scenarios and future payments for asbestos losses up to an ultimate industry loss of $85 billion. Based on recent development experience and its latest analysis of loss payment …
 
 

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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Why is the US Still in the Asbestos Business?

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This is a post by our colleague Jon L. Gelman who practices law in New Jersey. The post speaks for itself – shockingly the US has still not banned asbestos. We haven’t mined it here since 2002, but we import it from Canada. The fact of the matter is that, as Jon points out “the US imports 99% of the asbestos it consumes from Canada.” In 2010 that was over 1,000 metric tons.

The US still has not banned asbestos. The recently released US Geological Survey just published the latest statistics reporting that 1,040 metric tons of asbestos, a known carcinogen and the cause of mesothelioma, Continue reading

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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