Mesothelioma Claims in Gainesville, Fl: What You Need to Know

Mesothelioma is a difficult disease to diagnose because the symptoms often remain dormant for a substantial amount of time. A patient can be exposed to asbestos for an extended period, but the symptoms of mesothelioma do not develop for years after the prolonged exposure. Many workers exposed to asbestos do not develop symptoms until long after they enter their retirement years. Another reason why mesothelioma is difficult to diagnose is that sometimes the disease resembles other types of respiratory illnesses that produce less severe symptoms.

Nonetheless, the illness generates symptoms that should at least pique someone’s interest. Chest pain and a persistent cough represent two common signs of the disease. Eventually, a patient can experience acute shortness of breath by just moving slowly across a room. When breathing becomes painful, the time has come to schedule an appointment with your healthcare provider. Loss of appetite and unexplained weight loss often develop around the same time a victim begins to experience intense pain while breathing. Chronic fatigue that makes it impossible to complete basic daily tasks indicates a serious health issue. Fluid accumulation around the lungs means the disease has moved into a more severe stage.

If you know you have a history of asbestos exposure and you experience one or more of these symptoms, act with a sense of urgency by scheduling a medical examination appointment with your primary healthcare provider. Successful mesothelioma claims in Gainesville, FL require the submission of a significant amount of persuasive medical evidence.

Florida has established three clear criteria for someone to file a claim for mesothelioma. The three eligibility criteria are proof of residence, the statute of limitations, and the two-disease rule.

Proof of Residence

Proving you reside in Florida can be tricky if you live in Florida part-time. Many residents of other states move down to Florida for seasonal weather reasons. This makes it difficult to determine whether a mesothelioma patient contracted the disease because of exposure to asbestos in Florida or another state. Your personal injury attorney has to demonstrate a victim of the disease received exposure to asbestos in Florida, as well as decide whether you maintain a home in the state for enough time to qualify you as a resident.

Statute of Limitations

Like a vast majority of Florida personal injury cases, you have four years to file a mesothelioma claim in Gainesville, FL. The clock does not start ticking on the statute of limitations in Florida until your healthcare provider has discovered at least one symptom of the illness. Cases involving mesothelioma have waited 50 years to litigate because a victim did not discover the symptoms of the disease until five decades after prolonged exposure to asbestos.

The key to proving you have met the statute of limitation for filing a mesothelioma claim in Gainesville, Florida is to have your healthcare provider sign and date a document that verifies the dates when you discovered the symptoms of the potentially deadly disease.

Two-Disease Rule

The two-disease rule concerns the severity of a disease caused by extended exposure to asbestos. For example, let’s say you received compensation for a non-malignant medical condition caused by asbestos exposure. If the non-malignant medical condition eventually develops into cancer, you have the right to file a second claim that seeks monetary damages.

Plaintiffs have three options when filing a civil lawsuit that seeks compensation to recover from the financial losses caused by mesothelioma.

Personal Injury

Filing a personal injury claim allows you to take legal action against a specific company or companies that knowingly exposed you to asbestos. One of the most effective arguments made by a personal injury lawyer is proving a company or more than one company knew about the presence of asbestos during the construction of a commercial or residential building. A personal injury lawsuit holds the other party or parties legally liable for failing to warn employees or residents about the physical consequences of prolonged exposure to asbestos.

Wrongful Death

A wrongful death civil lawsuit permits an estate, which typically constitutes a spouse, parent, children, and/or other relatives of the deceased mesothelioma victim, to seek compensation for the wrongful death of a loved one. The estate can use the funds awarded for a wrongful death case to pay medical bills, cover lost income, and take care of burial and funeral expenses. Wrongful death lawsuits frequently involve the awarding of monetary damages that cover a loss of consortium and the value of future income.

Trust Fund

Victims of mesothelioma have a legal option to recover compensation against companies that file for bankruptcy Many of the companies accused of asbestos negligence have created trust funds to pay the monetary damages awarded for mesothelioma. A bankruptcy court sets up the trust fund and plaintiffs come forward to submit mesothelioma claims in Gainesville, FL against the trust fund. The trust funds remain accessible for a wide variety of plaintiffs, including workers, consumers, and members of a household.

Because of the delayed development of symptoms and other complex legal factors, filing a mesothelioma lawsuit requires the experience and knowledge of the team of personal injury lawyers at Morgan and Morgan.

Collect Medical Evidence

Your personal injury attorney meets with your primary healthcare provider to gather the evidence required to file one of the persuasive mesothelioma claims in Gainesville, Florida. Important medical evidence to submit with your civil lawsuit includes the results of diagnostic tests, as well as a description of treatment programs and physical therapy sessions. Your oncologist should submit a detailed timeline that describes the development of symptoms, as well as when you entered different stages of the disease.

Collect Physical Evidence

Acquiring medical evidence demonstrates the development of mesothelioma. Physical evidence proves which party or parties should assume legal liability for exposing you to asbestos. Your personal injury lawyer from Morgan and Morgan reviews documents that discuss the construction of a building where you lived or work. Witness accounts of the construction process also can help you build a strong enough case to seek compensation. Your personal injury attorney might be able to locate and properly store sections of asbestos to introduce as evidence during a civil trial.

Negotiate a Settlement

Most companies that are legally liable for the development of mesothelioma symptoms prefer to negotiate settlements to avoid a costly and time-consuming civil trial. The personal injury attorney that you hire from Morgan and Morgan has several opportunities to get you the compensation you deserve, without having to litigate your case. Discovery, which is the step that involves sharing evidence and witness statements, usually is the point in the litigation process when both parties sit down to negotiate a favorable settlement.

One important point to make: Although our attorneys try to negotiate a favorable settlement, we do not hesitate to take a mesothelioma lawsuit trial if the other party or parties submit unreasonable counteroffers.

Receive Response

After serving the other party or parties a copy of your mesothelioma claim, you should not have to wait more than 30 days to receive a response. Thirty days gives the other party or parties plenty of time to decide whether to accept the initial offer or instead, take the case to trial in front of a civil court judge. Hiring an experienced personal injury lawyer helps you receive a response in a timely manner.

The most important goal for the filing of mesothelioma claims in Gainesville, FL is to win a favorable legal judgment that awards monetary damages. For personal injury cases, judges typically award three types of monetary damages.

Economic

Economic damages cover the tangible costs associated with developing mesothelioma symptoms. You have the right to recover the cost of diagnostic tests, treatment programs, and physical therapy sessions. Other medical expenses you should request compensation for if applicable include prescription medications and the use of an assistive device. Mesothelioma symptoms can develop into a life-threatening disease that requires the use of an assistive device just to stand up.

You also have the right to request compensation that covers the value of lost wages, as well as the value of future lost wages. Your personal injury attorney calculates a reasonable value for lost future wages.

Non-Economic

As we mentioned before, an estate has the right to file a wrongful death claim for a case involving prolonged asbestos exposure. The claim includes a request for compensation to cover non-economic damages. You also have the right to ask for non-economic damages for a personal injury case. Non-economic damages include pain and suffering, as well as loss of consortium. The personal injury attorney you work with from Morgan and Morgan calculates a fair value for non-economic damages by using a formula that includes the value of economic damages.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages can represent the largest percentage of an award for monetary damages. If your lawyer can prove the other party or parties knew about the presence of asbestos but did nothing about it, a judge has the power to award a substantial value for punitive damages. The awarding of punitive damages deters the plaintiff or plaintiff from committing future acts of asbestos negligence, as well as deters other companies that learn about the awarding of substantial compensation because a company or companies committed one or more acts of asbestos negligence.

With more than three decades of litigating wrongful death and personal injury cases, Morgan and Morgan can be your advocate when litigating one of the mesothelioma claims in Gainesville, FL. We understand what it takes to prove negligence, as well as demonstrate the severity of your symptoms.

Schedule a free case evaluation today with one of the highly-skilled litigators at Morgan and Morgan.