Maine - The state of Maine leads the nation in having the highest death rate from mesothelioma, according to an article reported by the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. It’s well known that breathing asbestos can lead to mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer. In the early 1970s, industrial manufacturers stopped the widespread use of asbestos in products such as brake linings, insulation and cement. But the disease take decades to show up, so many people are just getting sick now. A new report shows that Maine has the highest death rate from the disease per capita than anywhere else in the country.
“We noticed that death rate in Maine is 27.5 per million population — the highest rate in the United States,” says Ki Moon Bang, the senior epidemologist at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which studied mesothelioma mortality rates from 1999 to 2005. During that period, 173 Maine residents died from mesothelioma.
Some of Maine’s biggest employers in the past used asbestos, industries such as “paper companies and chemical companies and the shipyard industry,” Bang says. “A recent study at the National Cancer Institute shows that workers employed in shipyards face elevated risk from abestos-related disease.”
Exposure to asbestos, a mineral that comes in masses of strong, flexible fibers, can also lead to lung cancer and another illness known as asbestosis, a chronic lung disease. But the prognosis is the worst for mesothelioma. By the time most patients are diagnosed with mesothelioma, they are usually given five to 16 months to live.
The Mesothelioma Attorney Alliance was formed to provide legal representation for people who have developed mesothelioma or lost loved ones to the disease. With lawyers in more than 30 states, including Maine, the Mesothelioma Attorney Alliance offers a Free Mesothelioma Lawsuit Review Form for people who want to obtain money to compensate them for their disease. You can also call attorney Phillip Jauregui free-of-charge at 800-509-5357 to discuss your potential right to collect money from the company or companies who caused your asbestos exposure.
Local counsel for the Mesothelioma Attorney Alliance in Maine is Stephen Whiting of The Whiting Law Firm, P.A., 75 Pearl Street, Suite 207, Portland, Maine 04101.
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