Posted on 05/11/2008 5:03:50 PM PDT by CedarDave
The fraudulent nature of many legal cases alleging damage from exposure to asbestos, long documented in legal and other publications, was officially confirmed to the world by a savvy federal judge in Texas three years ago. However, if allegations in a new report are true, similar rip-offs are still being tried.
The most disheartening thing about the report, “Trial Lawyers Inc. Asbestos,” fifth in a series from the Manhattan Institute, is that the reader can count on the fingers of one hand the number of doctors and lawyers who have been punished for abusing the system.
A federal grand jury in New York reportedly has been looking into the issue ...
What is also needed, and rarely discussed, is a way to make judges control these cases rather than sit back and watch the plaintiff bar effectively extort cash from the defendants because it’s cheaper to settle ... than to investigate thousands of cases filed at once...
Breathing airborne asbestos fibers is unquestionably dangerous. ... The number of claims against manufacturers and other companies ... may have reached 10 million; the ultimate cost of settlement has been estimated at $265 billion. Hundreds of companies have had to seek bankruptcy protection.
Probably most claims came from people, recruited by lawyers, who weren’t sick. A sample of chest X-rays in 492 cases examined by doctors at Johns Hopkins University showed 4.5 percent with abnormalities; doctors hired by plaintiff lawyers had certified that 95.9 percent showed signs of asbestos disease.
The railroad CSX Corp. ... is pursuing a civil action under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ... charging fraud and conspiracy against a Pittsburgh law firm after discovering, among other things, invented people, dead people and impostors among the plaintiffs.
It’s time this case gets the public attention it deserves.
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonherald.com ...
Unfortunately I was involved in a suit after a doctor left a towel in my abdomen for six months, the pursuit of truth is not a concern of the courts. This was my first and only time the court system, and it is all about who has the better lawyer. I know I sound like a bleeding heart liberal, but there is mountains of wrong on both sides.
global warming and race reparations could make asbestos look like a friday night poker game.
You should have given the towel back sooner.
When a towel is left in an incision, you have demonstrable harm with NO DOUBT as to liability. Asbestos harm, OTOH and IMHO, is problematic at best.
Same with smokers and their ailments. IIRC, cigarettes were called ‘cancer sticks’ and ‘coffin nails’ back in WWII. Were those not EXPLICIT WARNINGS?
I get livid over these GD ambulance chasing opportunists (and I am an attorney).
Demonstrated injury from negligence or malpractice is one thing. Lawsuits based on speculative causes for a disease are something else.
Similarly, lawsuits blaming someone else for ones stupidity should also be curtailed. There was one I read about a couple of months ago where a pair of teenagers trespassed in a railroad yard, climbed on top of a boxcar and came in contact with a high voltage line. They sued the RR and won. The court/jury gave as a reason the not enough signs were posted alerting trespassers to the overhead high voltage lines.
If all this stuff was really this hazardous, we would all have been dead long ago.
The tort bar owns this country completely, and they're always first in line to be elected to public office.
Oh yeah.. let’s not forget the ‘retarded jury pool”
seriously, how did your case come out and are you fully recovered?
Regent of England
Did they send you a bill for the towel, when they realized you had it all of that time?
What hope is there of fixing that if we can't remedy the serious case of 'retarded jurists?'
The scientific level of expertise of most judges hovers somewhere between 4 and 5 --- on a scale of 100.
The asbetos game was exposed nearly twenty years ago. Check the American Spectator 1989.
“Oh yeah.. let’s not forget the ‘retarded jury pool” “
Abject stupidity is part of it, but I think more often these jurors are engaging in blatant class and/or race warfare. “Rich and greedy” corporations run by succesful white men, are by default, guilty of all charges and ripe for a money vacuumming.
The Founders had in mind a learned, reponsible jury, who would take very seriously their important rendering of justice.
At some of the mines out west in Idaho and Nevada the same thing was happening with Silica dust.
One of my co-workers here came down with cancer from Asbestos exposure. He got a big settlement and he deserved every penny of it.
I have seen men working in fly ash dust blow their nose and the snot come out looking like dirty toothpaste.
Yes, it WILL kill you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicosis
Shakespeare, Henry VI, part II.
ping
Green & Fazio
Barry Green.....Phil Hartman
Woman.....Julia Sweeney
Defending Lawyer.....Kevin Nealon
[ open on interior, Barry Green's law office ]
Barry Green: Have you been in an accident? Have you witnessed an accident? Have you suffered psychological damage from hearing someone describe an accident he saw? Hello, I'm Barry Green, of the law firm of Green & Fazio, here with another Litigation Myth.
Myth #4: You cannot file for an accident in which you were not involved. False.
We at Green & Fazio realize that when an accident occurs, it's not just those involved who suffer. That's why we've pioneered in whole new areas of accident litigation, including Bystander Trauma, Phantom Whiplash, and Near-Collision Stress Disorder. Why not come in for a free consultation and let us help you collect the money you didn't even realize you were entitled to?
[ cut to a Woman on the street ]
Woman: I'd love to sue somebody, but don't I need a reason?
[ cut back to Barry Green's law office ]
Barry Green: Myth #8: In order to be successful, a lawsuit must have merit. False.
At the law firm of Green & Fazio, we know that some of the most lucrative lawsuits are nuisance suits. you see, today's large corporations and wealthy individuals would rather settle out-of-court than deal with the headaches, the harassment, of endless emotionally draining litigation. And no one harasses defendents like Green & Fazio.
[ cut to a defending lawyer talking with Green & Fazio on his cellphone ]
Defending Lawyer: Look, Green, stop harassing me! Alright, what'll it cost to make you go away? I'd rather settle than sit in court with a lying piece of human garbage like you!
[ cut back to Barry Green's law office ]
Barry Green: Green & Fazio. In the fight for justice, we're on your side.
Announcer: Dial 1-500-HARASSS. The extra S is for extra harassment.
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