A Glouster couple is suing 66 companies that allegedly manufactured, distributed, used, supplied or installed the asbestos-containing products that caused one of the pair to develop cancer.
Coincidentally, Ohio Sens. Mike DeWine and George Voinovich are supporting the Asbestos Reform Bill, which would create a national trust fund to pay asbestos victims' claims and limit the number of asbestos cases in Ohio courts.
Rex and Donna Sayre filed the suit Jan. 20 in the Athens County Court of Common Pleas.
According to court records, Rex worked at various construction sites throughout Ohio until his retirement in 1996. During his 35 years as a laborer, Rex was exposed to a considerable amount of asbestos. His clothes became contaminated with asbestos dust, and when Donna handled his clothes, she inhaled the hazardous dust.
Donna was diagnosed in January 2004 with peritoneal mesothelioma, an untreatable and potentially fatal cancer of the outer lining of the abdomen that is primarily caused by asbestos exposure.
The defendants - most of which are in Ohio - were all tied to Rex's jobs and were in some way responsible for exposing him to asbestos, either through the manufacturing or the selling and distribution of asbestos-containing products, according to the lawsuit.
Asbestos was a well-known carcinogen by the 1960s. However, the Sayres claim the defendants - knowing that asbestos was dangerous if exposed - acted in flagrant disregard.
The couple also alleges that the asbestos industry, including the defendants, schemed to conceal the dangers of asbestos by hiding evidence or manipulating the medical literature that was published, leaving laborers uniformed about its dangers.
This allegation was based on decades-old research
said Liz Martin, paralegal to Leslie A. James, the Sayre's attorney.
Lawsuits such as the Sayres' are frequent in Ohio courts, and Ohio ranks fifth in the nation for number of asbestos cases.
The Asbestos Reform Bill would provide quicker funding for asbestos victims and would increase the amount of money they received, said Ben Franklin, a legislative correspondent for DeWine.
Up to 65 percent of money rewarded to victims went to lawyers he said.
In preventing the cases from going to court, the bill also would reduce the costs of asbestos lawsuits for businesses. Several businesses in Ohio have gone bankrupt from such proceedings, he said.
People lost their jobs and it was bad for the economy in general
he said.
Asbestos is common in the insulation in buildings on college campuses such as Ohio University if they were built before a certain era, said Charles Hart, interim director of OU's environmental health and safety department and an expert on asbestos.
There is asbestos in several buildings and residence halls at OU, including Alden Library, Baker University Center and Chubb Hall. However, asbestos is only dangerous if people are directly exposed to it for long periods of time, Hart said.
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