Former Navy Machinist With Mesothelioma Awarded $12.1 Million
A man who developed mesothelioma, the deadly form of lung cancer, after being exposed to toxic asbestos while working as a machinist in the U.S. Navy during the 1960s has been awarded $12.1 million from jurors.
Charles H. Cundiff, 66, handled insulating cement during work to overhaul the USS Kitty Hawk during his years of military service from 1962 to 1966. Cundiff later was diagnosed with mesothelioma, the rare but most often fatal cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, the material that once was used in many building products, such as cement and insulation.
Cundiff sued John Crane, Inc., the company that made the Insulag brand of cement, and Lone Star Industries, which delivered the cement containing asbestos to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, where the ship renovation was taking place.
In his lawsuit, Cundiff alleged the companies manufactured or supplied a defectively dangerous product and failed to warn him and other workers of the risk of mesothelioma and other injuries.
A Los Angeles County jury ruled this week that the manufacturer and supplier owe Cundiff $10 million for his pain and suffering plus $506,000 for lost wages. Cundiff’s widow was awarded $1.5 million for loss of consortium resulting from her husband’s injury.
The fact that Cundiff developed mesothelioma some 40 years after his exposure to asbestos on the job is not unusual. In most cases, symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear for 15 to 40 years and the disease may grow undetected to such an advanced stage that treatment options may be limited.
There is no cure for mesothelioma, but patients may be effectively treated with traditional cancer therapies including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.
Related posts:
- Former Handyman Awarded $2 Million for Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma A man who used to work as a handyman in...
- Family Awarded $3.4 Million for Calif. Worker’s Mesothelioma Death Relatives of a California man who died from mesothelioma lung...
- Family of Navy Shipyard Worker Who Died of Mesothelioma Awarded $1.2 Million Relatives of a Virginia man who died of mesothelioma after...
- Florida Widow Awarded Nearly $1 Million for Husband’s Mesothelioma The wife of a Florida worker who died of mesothelioma,...
- Widow of Man Killed By Asbestos-Related Cancer Awarded $2.6 Million The wife of a former Navy firefighter who died from...
