Mesothelioma is a cancer of the mesothelium. The mesothelium is a thin membrane that lines the chest and abdomen and surrounds the organs in these areas. The lining around the lungs is called the pleura.

Every year approximately 1800 people are diagnosed with Mesothelioma of the lining of the lungs.

How can you get Mesothelioma?

The most common way of getting Mesothelioma is by exposure to asbestos. Asbestos fibres are very fine and when breathed in they lodge in the smallest branches of the lungs and cannot be coughed out.

Once in the lungs the body reacts to remove the alien object trying to break them down this leads to inflammation of the lung tissue.

.back before the dangers of asbestos was known it was used in buildings as insulation roofing and in the cement.

The people who worked with asbestos are most at risk of developing these were people in certain trades and their family’s because they would have possibly bought the asbestos dust home on their clothes. The trades most at risk were demolition workers, plumbers, Electricians, shipbuilders’ construction workers.

Back in the eighties the import of brown and blue asbestos was banned and in the 1999 the import of white asbestos thought safe until then was also banned.

If you have been diagnosed and you were working or washing items of clothing or came into contact with asbestos in some other way you may be able to claim compensation. If you were in a union when you were working with asbestos the union may be able to help you get compensation and help with a personal injury solicitor.

This is a very specialised and a solicitor that deals in this kind of cases is what you need to make sure this matter is dealt with as a matter of urgency.

If your employer has ceased to be in business you may still be able to sue through his insurance company. Most solicitors specialising in this kind of case have access to records of other claims of asbestos and a list of insurers of companies no longer trading.

In the uk you have to make a claim within three years of being diagnosed if you are not diagnosed until a post mortem after your death your family can make a claim within three years of your death.