Mesothelioma Awareness Day is September 26

Donald Saiontz

By Donald Saiontz
Posted September 23, 2011

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U.S. Congress has designated September 26 as Mesothelioma Awareness Day, which is designed to help educate the public about this deadly disease that is caused by exposure to asbestos. The mesothelioma lawyers at Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. represent individuals throughout the United States who have been impacted by this preventable disease and have seen first-hand the devastating impact it can have on individuals and their families.

>>MORE INFORMATION: Mesothelioma from Asbestos Exposure

For decades, American workers in construction, navy shipyards, the automotive industry, insulators and other professions worked in close proximity to products containing asbestos, without realizing that they were potentially poisoning themselves. They were also unwittingly allowed to put their families at risk by carrying home asbestos fibers on their clothing and in their hair.

Most companies who exposed these workers to asbestos were well aware of the health risks long before most uses of asbestos were banned in the United States. However, they often failed to take steps to warn about the dangers or protect workers, placing their desire for profits before the safety of these individuals and their families.

More than three decades after most use of asbestos in the United States was stopped, thousands of people are continuing to be diagnosed with mesothelioma each year due to the long latency period between exposure and the first symptoms of the terrible disease.

Mesothelioma is a rare type of a lung cancer and chest cavity cancer caused by damage from asbestos fibers the victim has breathed in over long periods of time. By the time the cancer becomes symptomatic, it is usually too late for treatment and mesothelioma victims often only have months to live after a diagnosis.

Some estimate that mesothelioma continues to kill more than 3,000 Americans every year. However, the use of asbestos has still not been totally banned.

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