How Asbestos Companies Hid the Truth About Asbestos Related Diseases in 20th Century America

Many documents have provided overwhelming evidence that there is a relationship between asbestos exposure and serious health problems. Companies that mined asbestos and/or manufactured products that contained asbestos have known that they were subjecting their employees to life-threatening illnesses for more than 100 years.

There is undeniable evidence that by the 1930s asbestos manufacturers were well aware that exposure to asbestos had fatal implications. For example, Aetna Insurance, in 1934, noted that exposure to asbestos leads to "permanent disability followed by death."

Before the 1950s the medical community accepted the fact that asbestos exposure could cause mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer. In 1949, a document from the Standard Oil Co. (now Exxon) declared that there was a causal relationship between lung cancer and asbestos exposure.

Yet even in the light of such evidence, asbestos companies refused to admit to the public that there was any such connection.

And, rather than adopting the requisite safety standards or providing protective clothing and breathing apparatuses to their employees, they actually concealed the truth from their employees as well from the public. Some asbestos companies went so far as to rewrite studies that indicated that dangers existed.

The asbestos companies were determined to conceal the hazards as best they could.

An internal document from National Gypsum Co. in 1958 said, "…just as certain as death and taxes is the fact that if you inhale asbestos dust you will get asbestosis."

When employees spoke out about the dangers of asbestos they were often terminated. For example, Philip Carey Manufacturing hired a doctor to report asbestos hazards. After the doctor established an association between asbestos and cancer in 1964, the doctor was fired.

In 1966, in an affront to every asbestos industry worker, the purchasing director of Bendix Corp. wrote in a letter sent to Canadian Johns Manville, "…if you have enjoyed a good life while working with asbestos products, why not die from it?"

Then, in an internal memo in 1972 a W.R. Grace executive stated, "Our present policy is to tell no one anything." In 1973, Union Carbide told its personnel to tell customers that "asbestos is not a carcinogen."

That same year, Union Carbide's medical department advised the company not to downplay the dangers of asbestos in its marketing campaigns. The advice fell upon deaf ears.

Also in 1973, during a meeting of the Asbestos Textile Industry, asbestos industry representatives said that in the future thousands will face fatal consequences. However, they added that "the good news" is that "few people have been paying attention."

DuPont was still trying to bury the facts in 1980 when it asked that "asbestos" should be removed from physician's X-ray stamps and replaced with the word "irritant."

If you have an asbestos-related disease and would like to hold the company that caused your illness accountable, you may want to consider hiring a mesothelioma lawyer to help you seek justice for the harm caused you and your loved ones.


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To find more about mesothelioma law, go to http://www.mesorc.com/mesothelioma-lawsuits/legal/rights

Wendy Moyer on behalf of Sokolove Law.