Mass Tort Litigation: Asbestos

6 Mass Tort: A mass tort involves numerous plaintiffs filing civil lawsuits against one or a few 7 corporate defendants in state or federal court. The plaintiffs allege that they were harmed by 8 exposure to products produced by the defendants. Lawsuits may or may not be grouped in a class 9 action. Law firms representing plaintiffs in mass torts often use advertising to locate and recruit 10 plaintiffs. 11 Asbestos litigation is the largest mass tort in US history. As of 2002, 730,000 people had filed 12 lawsuits against more than 8,400 defendants, and the cost of resolving claims was estimated at $70 13 billion. The number of claims increased fourfold in the 1990s, and, in 2000 alone, 12 large 14 companies reported that 520,000 new claims were filed against them. Because individual plaintiffs 15 typically sue many defendants, estimates of the total number of asbestos claims range as high as 16 10 million. As of 2003, 73 corporations had gone bankrupt due to asbestos liabilities (Carroll 17 et al. 2005). Asbestos litigation has been extremely profitable for lawyers, since 57 % of spending 18 goes to lawyers’ fees (Carroll et al. 2003). Two studies in 2001 predicted that asbestos litigation in 19 the USAwould eventually cost $200 billion (Angelina and Biggs 2001; Bhagavatula et al. 2001). 20 Asbestos was once considered to be a “miracle mineral” for its effectiveness as insulation and in 21 preventing the spread of fires. It was used in ships, buildings, and consumer products, including 22 wallboard, roofing, flooring, pipes, automotive brakes, hair dryers, children’s toys, clothing, paper, 23 and gardening products. Asbestos was used to coat the steel girders of skyscrapers such as theWorld 24 Trade Center in New York, to insulate furnaces, and to make theater curtains fire resistant so that 25 backstage fires would not spread to the seating area. Because asbestos had somany uses, estimates of 26 the number of people who were exposed to it range from 27 to 100 million ( Q2 Biggs et al. 2001). 27 But asbestos crumbles into microscopic fibers that become airborne and embed themselves in the 28 lungs, causing a variety of diseases. Mesothelioma is cancer of the pleural lining around the chest 29 and abdomen and is quickly fatal. Asbestosis is scarring of the lungs that reduces breathing capacity; 30 it can range from non-disabling to fatal. These two are “signature diseases” that are uniquely 31 associated with asbestos exposure. Other asbestos diseases include lung cancer, gastrointestinal 32 cancer, and pleural plaque, which is non-disabling thickening of the pleural lining. These latter 33 conditions can be caused either by asbestos exposure or by other factors, such as smoking. Most 34 asbestos diseases have a long latency period, so that they do not develop until 20–40 years after 35 exposure. Individuals’ likelihood of developing asbestos disease is low, but increases as the length 36 and intensity of exposure rise (Carroll et al. 2003). 37 Asbestos exposure was recognized to be harmful as early as the 1920s and safe substitutes for 38 many of its uses were developed in the 1930s. But it nonetheless became widely used – US 39 consumption of asbestos grew from 100,000 metric tons in 1932 to 750,000 in 1994 (Castleman