re: Do that many people have mesothelioma?

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. Before you feel sorry for them they knew it was killing people and only used it because it was cheap as dirt to save a few nickels. The famous quote from asbestos CEO "the workers made a living from it might as well die from it too. "

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The thing is, asbestos was/is a pretty amazing product, with so many varied uses in commercial/industrial settings. To this day, there are products that utilized asbestos for which we haven't really come close to finding good substitutes.

I suppose it's easy or convenient to paint some of these old CEOs as just greedy heartless bastards, but the reality of the situation is a bit more complicated.

I'd venture to guess many of the former products that utilized it contributed to the saving of many many lives.

My grandfather worked in plants and did house demo and renovations on the side. He also took an occasional pressure washing and sandblasting job from the time he returned from the war to the mid 90s. He almost never wore adequate breathing protection. He was the kind of guy whom would wear a dust mask to sandblast the inside of a tank car.

He didn't get meso but he did suffer from emphysema and some other respiratory ailments for the last 20 years of his life.

His nephew did similar work and was similarly careless with respiratory protection. He did get meso in the late 80s and lived for about 5 years. His demise was brutal to see. He was in his early 50s but by the time it was over, he was like 80 pounds and dragging a big oxygen tank behind him- when he could get out of bed.

Most of those who worked with asbestos when the danger was less well known have died already. There is still a huge amount of untapped money available for victims, and the lawyers know the awards will be substantial for every victim from now on. The lawyers know they will not have to litigate any cases, so they will get paid for "negotiating" a settlement. Easy money for the lawyers.

I haven't read all the pages of responses, but interestingly, mesothelioma is one of the specific cancers that is suspected to be caused by the contaminated polio vaccines in 1955-1963...contaminated with monkey virus SV40. (documented fact the vaccine was contaminated, this is not conspiracy theory) The "conspiracy theory" aspect of it is that some research indicates that the latent virus can cause mesothelioma in people who weren't even exposed to asbestos, and can also make those contaminated more susceptible to developing it after exposure to asbestos.

your mom gave me meso the other night

One of my best friends died from it several years ago. He was in his late 50's and was never exposed to asbestos that anyone knew of. He never smoked. Bless his heart.