$1.153 Million Awarded to Mesothelioma Victim -- MesoLink.org -- 07-13-04

A Court of Appeal in Palm Beach has awarded $1.153 million to a mesothelioma sufferer following an appeal by the company being sued. The award was made in June of this year, although a jury made the original guilty verdict in May 2003.

The victim, Dennis Kavanaugh, worked as a carpenter in the 1970s, and he claimed that exposure to the asbestos fibres from drywall compound led to cancer of the stomach several decades later. Unfortunately, Mr Kavanaugh died in December last year, aged 61, before the court of appeal awarded the compensation. He died from pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lungs caused by exposure to asbestos fibres.

The producers of the compound, Union Carbide Corp, had always maintained that the fact they had put warning labels on their products meant that they had been responsible and informative to potential users. However, the jury found the company guilty in 2003 and their appeal failed last month. The company was also found 90% liable for a $1.8 million claim in December, which was lodged by another carpenter.

The company went on to claim that the case should never have gone as far as a jury in 2003 because sufficient warning labels were provided on products. However, the courts said that, although warning labels were used, these did not show the extent of the potential dangers that could result from asbestos exposure.