Woman’s Second-Hand Asbestos Exposure Leads to Mesothelioma Death

Though malignant mesothelioma continues to stymie researchers and physicians who are seeking an effective cure, there is no mystery as to the cause of the disease. Mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos, a fibrous mineral that was used extensively in shipbuilding, factories, construction, and many other industrial settings. Though the vast majority of cases are diagnosed in people who worked directly with the carcinogenic material, there are also many instances where family members were sickened when asbestos fibers were carried home on those workers’ clothing, hair, and skin. One such case is currently making its way through the courts, as the adult children of a woman who died of mesothelioma seek justice from the asbestos companies whose products their father worked with.

Adult Children Seek Justice Following Mother’s Mesothelioma Death

When Betty Ann Broussard was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma in 2018, her condition was already extremely grave. The woman died of the aggressive form of cancer just six months after it was identified, leaving her two adult children, Elizabeth and Edward Guilbeau to continue seek justice in her lawsuit against several asbestos defendants on her behalf. Ms. Broussard blamed her illness on asbestos dust that had been carried into her home on the clothing of her ex-husband, Kenneth Guilbeau, who had worked in the Avondale Shipyards.

According to evidence submitted in the mesothelioma lawsuit, Mr. Guilbeau had worked on two government ships for the Navy during the time that the couple was married. Deposition testimony submitted in the case acknowledged that she had never worked directly with asbestos herself, and instead blamed her illness on exposure to airborne asbestos fibers that she l inhaled while laundering his work clothes each day.

Second-Hand Asbestos Exposure Leads to Mesothelioma

In her lawsuit against the companies, the mesothelioma victim and her family accused them of knowing that asbestos was a danger and failing to provide either warning or precautionary measures to prevent workers from exposure or from carrying the dangerous materials home with them to their families. The family is seeking compensation for the damages that she suffered, as well as for her pain and suffering.