The same asbestos companies that have played a role in killing 3,000 Americans each year with the deadly cancer, mesothelioma, have been busy lobbying the new Congress to pass a law that would invade the privacy of those cancer victims and their families. The name of this proposed legislation is the Furthering Asbestos Claims Transparency Act (FACT) act. The law would require asbestos victims seeking compensation from asbestos bankruptcy trusts to disclose on a public website to which anyone would have access a wealth of personal information, including their personal income and their medical information.
The law would not require any so-called “transparency” from the asbestos companies that created the need for veterans and other hard-working Americans to file for compensation in the first place. The asbestos companies, for instance, would not be required to share information with their victims about the job sites to which the asbestos makers sold their products.
Asbestos Companies Hire Lobbyists to Push Congress to Pass Legislation Stripping Mesothelioma Victims of Their Right to Privacy
The companies that profited from the sale of products they knew would lead to workers’ illness and death are now quite transparently looking for a way to make it more difficult for their victims to be compensated.
And their paid lobbyists have been working hard to make that happen. As Robert Weissman recently explained in the Huffington Post, insurance companies, asbestos companies and the powerful U.S. Chamber of Commerce have been out-lobbying those representing the interests of asbestos victims by more than seven to one. We don’t know how much money the asbestos industry has spent on its lobbying efforts because the federal lobbying disclosure law allows the corporations to keep that secret.
They say you have to spend money to make money. It should come as no surprise, then, that the businesses that exposed American workers to asbestos, like Koch Industries, Ford Motor and WR Grace, are among those pushing this legislation the hardest in Congress. This legislation is ultimately about helping those companies make more money.
The companies did not care about the health of our Armed Forces and other workers decades ago when they exposed them to asbestos and they don’t care about their well-being today either.
Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel: Learn More About Filing a Mesothelioma Lawsuit
Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel is a national plaintiffs’ law firm devoted to helping families in personal injury and wrongful death cases involving asbestos, mesothelioma and other injuries caused by toxic exposures. Our attorneys have won record-setting verdicts, negotiated monumental settlements, and continuously work to improve the legislation governing asbestos products. Based in Dallas, Texas, with offices in California and Maryland, Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel has represented families across the country whose lives have been devastated by asbestos and mesothelioma.
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If you (or a loved one) have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, contact us by email or call us at 800.226.9880 to speak with our mesothelioma lawyers, like Demetrios Zacharopoulos and Anne Izzo in our Maryland office, to learn more about how we can assist you and your family with a mesothelioma lawsuit.
