Mesothelioma and Women

While most victims of mesothelioma are men, women are not immune from contracting this deadly cancer. There is no demonstrated biologic reason why women who inhale asbestos would have different biological responses to harmful asbestos fibers than men. There is no data to show that female physiological mechanisms are any more protective against asbestos disease than those of their male counterparts.

Studies report that a little more than 20% of cases of mesothelioma occur in women. There is also some indication that there is a rising incidence of mesothelioma in women in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom in recent years.

Mesothelioma is a disease that is strongly associated with asbestos exposure. The latency between exposure to asbestos and the diagnosis of mesothelioma can be many decades –twenty, thirty–even fifty years. It is not uncommon for women who contract mesothelioma to report to their physicians that they are unaware of how they were exposed to asbestos.

Many women did not work in occupations where they directly handled or were around asbestos. Studies show that only about one-fifth of women with mesothelioma had a history of occupational exposure to asbestos. For the majority of women with mesothelioma, their non-occupational exposure experience becomes much more significant. Studies show that for the majority of asbestos exposed woman with mesothelioma, most women were exposed to asbestos when living in a household where someone else worked with asbestos or by laundering asbestos-soiled clothing. These are called domestic or household exposures.

Recognizing the strong association of prior asbestos exposure to mesothelioma in women is something that is still lagging in some parts of the medical and scientific community. One reason is that the data that has been collected pertaining to the incidence of mesothelioma has been narrowly focused on looking at a person’s occupation. The statistical reporting often neglects to ascertain information about domestic or household exposures.

Since more women’s exposure to asbestos consists of domestic or household exposures, as opposed to occupational exposures, the female exposure experience is often under-reported. This “gender bias” in the medical and scientific literature makes it easier for asbestos companies to try to deny responsibility for causing mesothelioma in many women.

If you are a woman diagnosed with mesothelioma, the importance of finding a mesothelioma law firm that specializes in asbestos lawsuits will be even more important in order to achieve a successful and timely settlement or verdict.

The attorneys at Clapper Patti Schweizer & Mason are experts in this field, having practiced on mesothelioma law for close to thirty years, and have won millions of dollars for their clients.  Because of specializing in handling only asbestos cases, the attorneys are experts at determining where, when and how the exposure occurred and who was responsible.  For a free consultation, visit www.mesothelioma-attorney.com.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 28th, 2010 at 10:48 am and is filed under Mesothelioma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

View the original article here