Welcome to AsbestosCrisis.com :: Winners & Losers

“The situation has reached critical dimensions, and is becoming a disaster of major proportions … the worst is yet to come.”
U.S. Senate Judicial Conference on Asbestos

Winners
Trial Lawyers
	Less than 20 primary asbestos law firms have reaped $30 billion from asbestos litigation since 1984; the total may reach $100 billion before the Asbestos Crisis ends. It is the most profitable mass tort in history, the greatest single liability for American industry and insurers and the costliest legal action for American consumers and taxpayers.

Unimpaired Claimants
	Under the current system, 92% of claims are filed by people who have no apparent injury from asbestos and likely never will. 760,000 unimpaired claimants have already been awarded billions in compensation for non-existent injuries. As many as 2 million more such claims are anticipated in the next 30 years if there are no changes in the law.

Politicians
	Elected officials at every level, from Congress to office holders and judges in every state have been showered with campaign contributions, gifts and favors from trial lawyers eager to protect immense profits and from corporate lobbyists hoping for legal or legislative reform to slow the onslaught of asbestos claims that devastate company value. The total asbestos-related windfall for politicians exceeds $300 million and threatens to undermine the integrity of the entire U. S. political system.

Losers
Asbestos Victims
	Devastated by medical costs, they must wait years for resolution; pay up to 40% to lawyers; often left with pennies on the dollar from bankrupt companies and depleted trusts.

Workers
	Workers at defendant companies lose average $45,000 as funds are shifted to asbestos costs. 2,000,000 current and future jobs will disappear in the wake of litigation and bankruptcies.

Veterans
	Many victims are Greatest Generation soldiers and sailors, exposed while serving in WW II and Korea; left to suffer while others plunder the system for billions in asbestos profits.

Seniors
	Elderly comprise largest group of legitimate victims and are victimized again as pension funds at defendant companies are raided to pay asbestos costs and profits, reducing pensions as much as 40%.

Investors
	Stock values wiped out for primary defendants and plummet for 8,000 bystander defendant companies; investor losses will exceed $100 billion at current pace.

Companies
	Bystander defendants are victims of "mass fraud and extortion” cannot pay prohibitive costs of defense, forced to settle for billions in tribute.

Consumers
	Trickle down effect of Asbestos Crisis means higher prices, insurance costs and taxes for all U. S. consumers.


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