Not long ago, I met with a man suffering from mesothelioma. This man had worked his entire career at Wisconsin Electric also know as WE Energies. The man worked at a variety of power plants in Wisconsin, including the Oak Creek power plant, the downtown Milwaukee plant, the Miller valley power plant in Milwaukee, the Pleasant Prairie plant near Kenosha, and various other Wisconsin Electric power plants and substations. On a number of occasions, he would work around asbestos included electrical work, plumbing related work, and oil treatment work. The asbestos was in gaskets, insulating pipes, used around wire and joints. Asbestos was used because it was a good insulator.
Sadly, the man was living a nice life of retirement in Florida enjoying when he was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a deadly disease that is only caused by asbestos exposure. He was suffering from shortness of breath when his doctor discovered fluid on his lungs. Eventually, a thoracic surgeon was seen and he did a biopsy, which led to the definitive diagnosis of asbestos-related mesothelioma.
When I handle these mesothelioma lawsuits, the victims generally know that their disease is a fatal one. However, the victims also know that the monies that are involved in these asbestos cases will do at least two things, punish the companies responsible (as many knew asbestos was carcinogenic and caused mesothelioma) and help the families of the victim of mesothelioma.