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Supreme Court Maintains 2004 Asbestos Law is Retroactive

In a move that’s bound to affect thousands of asbestos injuries cases filed in Ohio, the state’s Supreme Court has ruled that a 2004 law that places strict limitations on the kind of persons who can bring these lawsuits, may be applied to those cases that were already filed before the law was passed.

The decision was announced after a 6-1 ruling, and is likely to affect as many as 40,000 cases that were already pending before the 2004 law went into effect, that made it harder for people to sue corporations for asbestos-related injuries or illnesses. Under the law, a plaintiff would have to have been treated by a medical expert for asbestos-related illnesses. The expert is also required to prove that the asbestos exposure did indeed contribute to the illness, and not merely review the file. These new rules made it harder for people to claim damages for asbestos-related personal injury if they couldn’t prove the severity of their condition. The law applied these requirements to cases that had been filed prior to the date of enactment which was September 2, 2004.

The ruling concerns the asbestos injury-related case of Ironton resident Linda Ackison, and the mesothelioma lawsuit that she filed against her dead husband’s employer. Ackison’s lawyers claimed that her husband Danny had died as a consequence of asbestos exposure at the company where he worked, Dayton Malleable. The wrongful death lawsuit was filed several months before the new law came into effect.

When the law was finally enacted in September of 2004, Ackison’s lawyers sued, claiming that the retroactive action of the law would be unfair to Linda and that her case should have the previous rules applied to it. The Supreme Court has now decided that the retroactive effect will stay.

Obviously, the lawyers for the several companies that were named by Ackison in her suit are more than pleased with the verdict. Ackison’s asbestos lawyers however, called it “totally inaccurate” to consider those whose filed lawsuits are not sick.

Asbestos is an insulating and fire proofing material that was used extensively in the seventies. Research has established that asbestos fibers settle down in the lungs after prolonged inhalation, causing the lung lining to become hard and leading to a host of illnesses including mesothelioma, lung cancer, and various other diseases that have been linked to the fibers.

It’s unfortunate that the Ohio Supreme Court has decided to go with a law that could effectively ruin the hopes that thousands of asbestos-injured people or their survivors have for justice. The Court seems to have placed the convenience of the billion dollar corporations ahead of the concerns of sick people, who are faced with life-altering asbestos-related diseases through no fault of their own.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of asbestos related injuries. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

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