Case Study For Mesothelioma Attorney Virginia
TAKING A CHANCE ON LIFE
Bad News
David*, 45, was sitting by the telephone. He had to call up the laboratory at a medical centre to find out his test results. He was jittery all day and his instincts were indicating that the news would not be good. He finally mustered up some courage and dialed the telephone number. It was bad news the lab technologist told him on the other line. David had ‘metastatic adenocarcinoma’, a cancerous condition affecting lungs, colon and rectum. He was devastated and shocked when he heard the news. He couldn’t understand that how could he, a lean, athletic, super fit man could come down with such a disease. These days he had labored breathing, complained of continuous pain emanating from the left part of his body, was physically bloated. Moreover he had become unrecognizable to his friends and family. He had an envious business career track record with his current position as a Vice-President for a top corporate firm. He had everything going for him and the disease was bringing everything to an end.
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At Low Ebb
In 1998, David’s health further deteriorated. The pain in his stomach worsened, his voice was barely audible and he started to lose a great deal of weight. He went for more tests and he was diagnosed with ‘mesothelioma’. ‘Mesothelioma’ is a rare form of cancer that a patient develops due to prolonged exposure to asbestos fibers. It affects the chest and lung lining and alters it to an abnormal state. An incurable disease the patient normally dies within a year of the diagnosis.
David was clueless as to how could he have developed ‘mesothelioma’. There was no way in his current job that he could have been exposed to asbestos. Such an occupational hazard could not have taken in his workplace as his office building was asbestos-free. He discussed this at length with his understanding and caring wife Laura*. Laura asked him to think about the time when he may have been exposed to or worked even briefly in an asbestos filled environment.
Shaking the Past
Later that night before going to bed, David jogged his memory and everything fell into place. He recalled that his father used to work in Norfolk Naval Shipyard which is one of the US navy’s oldest shipyards. It is located in Hampton roads where the largest naval base in the world is situated. People working in shipyards are exposed to various toxic chemicals such as asbestos that can eventually lead to complicated types of cancers including lung cancer, stomach cancer and bowel cancer.
His father would come home after work wearing his dirty overalls and played sometimes with his children before he changed his shipyard clothes. The shipyards in those days used to be an ‘asbestos hell’. Then he remembered as a child he used to tinker with his classic car collection and as a teenager would often do his own brake mechanics work. Both the classic cars and brakes contained asbestos fibers. Often he would help his dad out in the shipyard. Before working as a full time corporate professional he worked for a short while in an auto parts store, again an asbestos filled environment. Death came to his father when he painfully succumbed to stomach cancer but neither he nor the thought it was in any way linked to working at the shipyard.
Legal Breakthrough
Feeling angry, betrayed and sad, David decided to take legal action against the shipyard management for not doing enough to protect their workers and their families from the dangerous side-effects of asbestos fibers. Although all shipyards have to agree to provide protective and safety measures for their workers yet very few in actuality implement them. He got in a touch with a law firm, J&S Associates, Virgina Attorneys who were experienced in mesothelioma cases. They agreed to take on David’s case provided he supplied them with evidence of employment contract, pay slips, appraisal reports, medical records, diagnostic test results, biopsy reports and tissue analysis results. David agreed to do so. In the meantime his chemotherapy sessions had started, which made him extremely weak and tired.
In January 1999 David had to undergo a tediously long 12 hour surgery for the removal of the pleura (the lining of the lungs) where the mesotheliomic poisonous cells were attacking furiously. In April of the same year the legal trial began. David recounted to the jury all the horrors he experienced due to the disease and the possible sources of asbestos exposure. Since asbestos companies at that time were almost bankrupt, they were eager to make out-of-court settlements. Also the companies knew that if the public found out that someone as young as David could have mesothelioma, it would tarnish their image forever.
David’s lawyers succeeded in obtaining a one million dollar settlement. This was a small victory for David. Although he would not get his life back but he knew that this substantial amount of money would not only cover his medical costs but also take care of his wife Laura and daughter Cindy*.
One More Attempt
Now all David had to do was to wait for his end which he knew would happen any time soon. However it took one telephone call to turn David’s life upside down or rather downside up. The call was from an oncology coordinator at Duke Medical University Centre who wanted to know if David would be interested in a clinical trial being conducted especially for mesotheliomic patients. The coordinator also pointed out to David that he could only participate in the clinical trial if he fulfilled their pre-requisites. With nothing to lose, David thought for a while and agreed to become a part of the clinical trial.
The pre-requisites of any clinical trial are stringent. The patient has to have certain mesothelioma disease characteristics, metabolic conditions, liver features and other physical characteristics in order to participate in such sensitive and risky experiments. Luckily David matched the guidelines and was eligible for the clinical trial. It involved an experimental concoction of cancer drugs. Several trials had previously been conducted involving various combinations of new drugs and treatments. The researchers couldn’t tell exactly which combination of drugs would work and which wouldn’t. Previous clinical trials were unsuccessful. Therefore there was no guarantee that this time this particular combination of cancer drugs would work. David was informed of all these issues but he nevertheless decided to give it a shot. |
