If you’re wondering how to tell if you’ve been exposed to secondary asbestos, you should call a professional to examine your surroundings while seeking out medical care ASAP. Secondary asbestos exposure can cause you to suffer from many of the same symptoms and long-term health conditions as direct asbestos exposure. If you don’t act quickly, you may endanger your health further.
San Diego personal injury lawyers with Gomez Trial Attorneys recognize how frightening it can be to discover that someone else’s negligence exposed you to asbestos. That’s why our team offers legal services to people in your shoes. You can work with our courtroom-experienced attorneys to hold those negligent parties accountable for your financial stress after secondary asbestos exposure. Let’s work together to investigate your circumstances today.
Symptoms of Secondary Asbestos Exposure
Asbestos used to be one of the most common materials used to heatproof and insulate homes, professional spaces, textiles, and cars. However, the United States government discovered the dangers of the material and worked to remove it from most common spaces. While the use of asbestos in some environments remains illegal, secondary exposure can constitute negligence in the eyes of states’ civil courts.
How do you know whether or not you’ve been exposed to asbestos, though? This material has a marked impact on your respiratory health. If you notice any of the following symptoms after visiting an older building, driving an older vehicle, or interacting with someone who works with asbestos, reach out to a doctor immediately:
- Wheezing
- Hoarseness
- Pain in your chest
- Difficulty swallowing
- Unintentional weight loss
- Loss of appetite
- A constant struggle to get enough air
Long-term secondary exposure to asbestos can increase the chance that you may develop dangerous lung conditions, including lung cancer and mesothelioma.
Sources of Asbestos
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) goes into detail about the dangers of asbestos and the steps businesses, manufacturers, and other institutions must take to limit a person’s exposure to this dangerous substance. However, some older homes and businesses may still have asbestos integrated into their construction, meaning you may suffer secondary exposure after interacting with people in these locations.
The most common sources of asbestos and secondary asbestos exposure today include:
- Caulk
- Joint compound
- Heat-resistant materials and fabrics
- Insulation
- Shingles
- Siding
- Textured paint
- Floor and ceiling tiles
If you start detecting symptoms of secondary asbestos exposure after interacting with someone who lives or works in an older environment, reach out to a medical professional immediately. The sooner you can treat symptoms of secondary asbestos exposure, the faster you can prevent your symptoms from transforming into life-long health concerns.
Planning Your Recovery
Unfortunately, there’s no treatment that can fully reverse the damage done by secondary asbestos exposure. You can work with medical professionals to mitigate the worst of these symptoms, though. Should a doctor diagnose you with asbestosis, you can:
- Avoid returning to locations with asbestos
- Avoid interacting with people who live or work in asbestos-rich environments
- Limit or stop smoking
- Attend physical therapy to restore the strength in your lungs
If your secondary exposure has severely damaged your ability to breathe, medical professionals may recommend lung surgeries or transplants to restore your health.
Many of the steps you can take to mitigate the effect of asbestos on your life can cost a pretty penny. The good news is that exposure to asbestos constitutes negligence. California allows parties negatively impacted by someone else’s negligence to sue that party for damages based on accident-related losses. This means you may have the right to demand loss-based financial support from the party that exposed you to asbestos.
When To Call a Personal Injury Lawyer
Once medical professionals confirm that you’re contending with the symptoms of secondary asbestos exposure, it’s time to call a personal injury lawyer. San Diego asbestos attorneys can help you begin to build a legal claim against the party or parties responsible for your secondary exposure. Your efforts to build a personal injury claim can secure you the compensation you need to fund your recovery.
California Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 gives you no more than two years from the day you discover your second-hand exposure to take legal action against the party deemed liable for your losses. If you can get in contact with an attorney within days of your diagnosis, you can use that two-year filing timeline to your advantage.
Taking Legal Action Against Negligent Parties
California’s civil laws specifically give you the right to demand loss-based compensation from a liable party in civil court. This means that you have an obligation to:
- Identify the party responsible for your secondary asbestos exposure
- Gather the evidence you need to establish a violated duty of care
- Compose that evidence into a complete claim
- Estimate the value of the losses you endured due to your secondary asbestos exposure
Evidence, in other words, is king in the case you bring against the party that exposed you to asbestos. Fortunately, our team makes it easy for you to connect with chemical and environmental professionals who can test certain environments, clothing, and machines for asbestos exposure. We can integrate that expert testimony into the claim you bring against another party to defend your right to exposure compensation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What damages can you request after secondary asbestos exposure?
You have the right to estimate the dollar value of your secondary asbestos exposure case by accounting for the economic and non-economic stressors you’ve endured due to your wrongful secondary asbestos exposure. Those stressors can include the following:
- The cost of long-term medical care
- The cost of replacing property exposed to asbestos
- Supplemented wages
- Reduced quality of life
- Pain management and breathing aids
- At-home care
- Emotional distress
- Pain and suffering
Our team can help you calculate the dollar value of these losses during a free secondary asbestos case assessment.
Do you have to go to trial to win secondary asbestos exposure damages?
You do not have to go to a civil trial to win compensation for secondary asbestos exposure losses. The experienced lawyers with Gomez Trial Attorneys can arrange out-of-court settlement negotiations with a liable party that acknowledges the role they played in worsening your health.
Let Our Asbestos Exposure Attorneys Fight for You
No rental services, construction company, or employer should expose you to asbestos in this day and age. The dangers of asbestos are highly publicized and discussed in medical and professional communities. Anyone who exposes you to secondary asbestos is actively violating the duty of care that they owe you. You, in turn, have the right to hold that party accountable for the damage done to your health and your subsequent financial strain.
You don’t have to take someone to court alone, though. You can work with asbestos lawyers in San Diego to build a case against a negligent party. Reach out to the personal injury lawyers with Gomez Trial Attorneys today to schedule a FREE secondary asbestos exposure case consultation. You can contact us by calling 866-TRIAL LAW (866-874-2552) or by reaching out to us online.