Firm Videos

“One of the questions we’re often asked here at Richmond Vona is if somebody’s been exposed to asbestos and develops lung cancer, do they have a case? Everyone is familiar with the connection between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma, as we see advertisements all the time on television. However, what most people don’t know is that asbestos exposure is also a leading cause of lung cancer.

Another common question is, ‘If I smoked and developed cancer, why would I still have a case?’ The answer is yes, you may still have a case. Even though smoking is an independent cause of lung cancer, so is asbestos. There’s plenty of medical science to back up the proposition that if you’re exposed to both smoking and asbestos at the same time, it increases your likelihood of developing lung cancer by multiples. For example, smoking cigarettes and being exposed to asbestos can increase the risk of lung cancer by as many as tenfold.

Another question we get asked is, ‘How long does it take for lung cancer to develop after being exposed to asbestos?’ Typically, you’re looking at a period of roughly 20 to 40 years from the time the person was exposed to asbestos until the time lung cancer manifests and they are diagnosed. The latency period is also important to think about because it takes you back in time to when this person was exposed to asbestos. It’s not something that a person is exposed to today and develops lung cancer tomorrow. When we talk about latency, we’re referring to workers who were exposed in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

Why is latency important? Because you need an attorney who actually knows how this disease works, knows what products contained asbestos in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, where those products were used, and how they were used. Here at Richmond Vona, we believe that your best choice for an attorney if you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma or lung cancer is a local firm that is based where you worked and where you were exposed to asbestos. We have extensive knowledge about all the work sites in Western New York—from Bethlehem Steel, Hooker Chemical, Durez Plastics, Niagara Mohawk, DuPont, Union Carbide, to even into Rochester with Xerox and Kodak. We know these sites inside and out. We know all the suppliers of asbestos products, all the contractors that worked there, and all the ways in which workers would have been exposed to asbestos.

In addition to that, we have a wide breadth of knowledge concerning the liability case, which means we know what these companies knew and when they knew about the hazards of asbestos. It’s shocking to the conscience that most of these companies knew as early as the 1930s or 1940s that asbestos could cause serious diseases, yet they failed to warn individuals, like the workers we represent.

If you’ve been diagnosed with lung cancer or mesothelioma, we suggest you give Richmond Vona a call. Even if your case has been declined by another law firm, we still may be able to help you.”