Military personnel have been stationed in hazardous places for decades. Many years ago, military personnel were exposed to asbestos on the job. Asbestos remains latent in the body for many years before people who have been exposed are sickened. Accordingly, service members are still being sickened with mesothelioma. Those who have been exposed may be entitled to financial compensation.
Military personnel were exposed to asbestos in a number of settings. Asbestos was commonly used as a construction material for decades, starting in the early 1900s. Even when it was known that asbestos was dangerous, it was not removed from military installations. Further, asbestos may also have been present in the following settings:
Asbestos was not widely removed from buildings until the 1980s. Even then, there were still many facilities and settings in which asbestos could be found. Those who have been exposed to asbestos do not immediately become sickened. The latency period in the body can last for decades.
Accordingly, there are still people who have been exposed to asbestos in the past who are still being diagnosed with mesothelioma. Some of these victims served in the military, and they were exposed during their time in the service.
Even though asbestos has not been widely used in quite some time, there are still roughly 3,000 new cases diagnosed in the United States each year. The rate of new mesothelioma cases has not decreased significantly, even though more time has passed since asbestos was used as a construction material. As such, mesothelioma still remains an ongoing issue for those who served and were exposed to asbestos during their service.
If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and you believe that your exposure to asbestos occurred during your time in the service, you may seek financial compensation for your injury. First, you should know where you can and cannot pursue compensation. Typically, injured military service members cannot file a claim or lawsuit against the United States government under the Feres Doctrine. It does not matter where you were exposed. The government is largely immune to lawsuits filed by service members who were injured.
Accordingly, you must pursue financial compensation in other ways. You have the same legal rights as an injured service member as anyone else who was sickened by exposure to asbestos. The typical pathway to financial compensation is a product liability lawsuit, suing the manufacturer of the product or the asbestos itself. If you are suing a government contractor who used asbestos in building a product, you would need to overcome the government contractor defense that could render them immune from a lawsuit.
Like any other person who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, one of your major challenges is proving when and where you were exposed to asbestos. As a retired service member, you likely served in numerous locations during the course of your military career. You must pinpoint the location at which you were exposed to seek compensation from the proper party.
The best way to have the most expensive investigation performed is to contact an experienced mesothelioma lawyer. Not only do they know the history of where asbestos was used, but they can also investigate your own unique circumstances to help determine where you were exposed. Then they can fight for you and your family to receive the highest possible amount of compensation.
The New Jersey mesothelioma lawyers at Brookman, Rosenberg, Brown & Sandler can fight for you and your family when you have been sickened by exposure to asbestos. To schedule a free consultation, contact us online or call today at 215-569-4000. Located in Philadelphia, we proudly serve clients in Delaware County, Chester County, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
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