Verdicts & Settlements

RESULTS: $500,000 Settlement

[Details are withheld due to a confidentiality agreement required by the railroad]

ATTORNEY: Richard N. Shapiro

PARALEGAL: Paula S.

WHAT HAPPENED:

Our client was a lifelong non-smoker. Our railroad worker client’s railroad career began in 1974 and continued for almost 20 years until 1993. He began as a pipefitter apprentice and later worked as a supervisor over mechanical shops.  He repaired asbestos-wrapped pipes in the shop and on locomotives, and rebuilt an area covered in asbestos cement. He directly handled, cut, removed, and hammered asbestos and also worked in an enclosed area where asbestos dust permeated the air. This was primarily, though not exclusively, during 1974 through 1982, and he continued to work at the railroad until 1993.

Our client saw his PCP doctor at the end of 2023.  His PCP sent him to obtain a CT scan of the chest, which showed honeycombing and interstitial lung disease on 12/14/23, the first time any physician noted any abnormality that might be consistent with asbestos exposure.

This condition is also simply called “asbestosis,” which is scarring of the lungs caused by asbestos. Asbestosis is a troubling progressive disease that does not have a single pattern- some people can live a normal life expectancy with only shortness of breath, while others can have a major deterioration of their breathing and end up on round-the-clock oxygen. The railroader has been under the care of his pulmonologist ever since.

While seeking a second opinion on the diagnosis, he consulted with a specialist who confirmed the asbestosis diagnosis and suggested the worker consider a clinical drug trial, which our client underwent, with regular treatment visits for several months. Although he is not yet eligible for the lung transplant list, he is aware that the only cure for his lung disease, asbestosis, is ultimately a lung transplant.  After age 65, patients on the transplant list only receive one lung.

KEY LEGAL STRATEGIES:

While the client’s pulmonary doctor believed that he was suffering from asbestos-related lung disease, he wasn’t experienced in evaluating railroad workers and their unique exposure to many asbestos-related products. Therefore, we retained a “B-reader” who evaluated hundreds of patients exposed to workplace dusts and asked him to review lung X-rays and CT scans to provide an opinion as to whether his lung disorder was consistent with asbestos-related lung disease.

B-readers are physicians who undergo specialized training to evaluate X-rays and CT scans of the lungs, looking for dust diseases. The B-reader provided the expert opinion that our client was suffering from asbestos-related disease, asbestosis. We also had another second consulting pulmonologist review the medical records and CT scans, and he concurred that the worker suffered from asbestos-related lung disease as well.

We filed his suit and then contacted his railroad employer before moving forward with litigation, asking them to engage in pre-litigation settlement discussions, which continued for several months. Finally, the parties arrived at a mutually agreeable settlement with confidential terms.

RESULTS: $500,000 settlement (confidential terms)