The family of Football Hall of Famer and television personality, Merlin Olsen, settled their lawsuits against several asbestos manufacturers, who they say caused his disease.
Lawyers for Olsen’s wife and three children filed a settlement notice in Los Angeles without disclosing the details of the settlement. Mesothelioma attorneys have won large settlements for clients who succumb to the disease. The lawsuit involved ten different businesses who manufactured or used asbestos materials.
Olsen died of mesothelioma, a cancer that causes tumors to grown on the delicate lining of the lungs, in March of 2010, after years of battling the disease. Mesothelioma is an aggressive and fatal cancer caused by prolonged exposure to asbestos. Olsen claimed he was exposed to the toxin while he worked on construction sites in his youth.
Asbestos was frequently used in construction and ship building, because it has fire-retardant properties. The material was banned in the 80s, due to the work of mesothelioma lawyers and environmental agencies, but many people had contact with it before the ban. Mesothelioma can take 20 to 40 years to manifest in a patient.
Asbestos manufacturers were aware of the health risks associated with the material well before the ban. But many failed to warn people of those dangers or instruct them on how to safely handle asbestos. Their negligence has led to many deaths and mesothelioma attorneys have held many of these businesses fiscally responsible for their disregard.
