Know Your Rights: Peritoneal Vs. Pleural Mesothelioma | Shrader Law
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For the thousands of innocent victims affected by asbestos exposure each year, it’s important to know that recourse is possible and legal help is available. Perhaps most importantly, asbestos exposure victims should know that they do not have to be in a financial position to afford legal representation-for valid, qualifying cases, legal fees are paid out of the settlement or trial award received, not the victim’s pocket.

Most people who are diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related illness-including other types of cancers, asbestosis and pleural effusion-did not even realize that they were at risk. This is because most victims of asbestos exposure did not even realize that they had come into contact with what is known to be a highly toxic and dangerous carcinogen.

Fortunately, there is a silver lining of hope for those who have suffered the physical and financial consequences of negligent and/or illegal asbestos exposure. Recourse and compensation is possible via multiple avenues, including toxic tort and workers’ compensation laws as well as well as disability claims through the Social Security Administration and (for veterans) the Department of Veteran Affairs.

PERITONEAL VS. PLEAURAL MESOTHELIOMA

In all, there are actually four types of the rare cancer that is almost exclusively linked with exposure to the deadly mineral asbestos-testicular, pericardial, peritoneal and pleural mesothelioma-and all are considered exceedingly uncommon by medical professionals, many of whom never see an actual case of the disease throughout the entire course of their careers.

With testicular mesothelioma comprising less than one percent of all cases diagnosed in the U.S., which is about 3000 annually, it is often glossed over completely in medical and legal literature. Pericardial mesothelioma is not far behind, in terms of obscurity, making up only about one percent of all cases total. The remaining two types-pericardial and pleural mesothelioma-thus compensate for at least 98 percent of all cases diagnosed each year, nationwide.

Peritoneal Mesothelioma: This type of mesothelioma cancer develops in the lining of the stomach and surrounding abdominal wall, after tiny asbestos particles are swallowed-becoming permanently imbedded in the delicate mesothelial tissue of the pericardium. Pericardial mesothelioma makes up somewhere between 10 and 20 percent of all cases.

Pleural MesotheliomaThis form of malignant mesothelioma is, by far, the most common-seen in somewhere around 75 to 85 percent of all patients diagnosed with the disease. One of the reasons pleural is the most common form of the disease is related directly to its location and the method of exposure most common in asbestos victims. The pleura are thin layers of mesothelial tissue that surround each of the lungs They are encased in the pleural cavity and surrounded by pleural fluid-all important components in the breathing process. Victims who unknowingly come into contact with dust-like asbestos fibers most often inhale the substance, resulting in the embedment of lmost microscopic and highly abrasive particles within the lining of the lung