Asbestos Exposure Blamed For Welder’s Lung Cancer In Wrongful Death Lawsuit

The family of a welder has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against 3M Company and other manufacturers, indicating that exposure to asbestos in their products resulted in a fatal case of lung cancer. 

The wife and family of James Adamson filed the complaint in the St. Louis 22nd Judicial Circuit Court on September 21, naming 3M, Copes-Vulcan Inc., Gould Pumps LLC and others as defendants. Adams died in September 2016, leaving behind his wife, Frances J. Adamson, and their children.

The asbestos exposure lawsuit indicates that Adamson was diagnosed with lung cancer after a life’s career of welding and working with machinery in Michigan, according to a report published in the St. Louis Record. The family indicates they did not realize his lung cancer was linked to asbestos until after his death.

According to allegations raised in the complaint, the defendants failed to adequately warn Adamson about the risks of exposure to the asbestos associated with their products. They are seeking punitive and compensatory damages.

Asbestos has been used in a variety of manufacturing and building industries, but most uses in the United States were banned more than 30 years ago due to concerns that it may cause a variety of ailments, such as lung cancer, asbestosis, and mesothelioma, which may not surface until decades after exposure. Given the long latency period between exposure to the substance and the development of mesothelioma, asbestos exposure continues to cause up to 15,000 deaths each year.

In 2009, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that the number of asbestos deaths from mesothelioma were continuing to rise, but were expected to have peaked by now as more time passes since the substance was banned.

Lawsuits over asbestos have been one of the largest mass-torts in U.S. history, with more than 600,000 people having filed a case against more than 6,000 defendants after being diagnosed with mesothelioma or other related injuries that were allegedly caused by inhaling asbestos fibers.