How Does Kentucky Law Define Loss of Consortium?

What is Loss of Consortium?

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If your spouse or parent  is injured or killed as a result of another’s negligence or defective product, you can seek compensation for the harm you suffer. This applies to personal injury and asbestos-related injury or wrongful death claims. Like pain and suffering, it’s not easily quantified compared to lost wages. But if enjoyment is taken away from you, and someone else is responsible, they should be held accountable.

How Does Kentucky Law Define Loss of Consortium?

Damages are a term for losses or injuries for which you can obtain compensation through legal action. Kentucky Revised Statute §411.145 states:

“Damages for loss of consortium.

  1. As used in this section “consortium” means the right to the services, assistance, aid, society, companionship and conjugal relationship between husband and wife, or wife and husband.
  2. Either a wife or husband may  recover damages against a third person for loss of consortium, resulting from a negligent or wrongful act of such third person.”

This refers to the deprivation or impairment of certain benefits or companionship in a personal relationship due to another party’s negligent or wrongful actions. The types of benefits and companionship that may be considered in a loss of consortium claim can include:

  • Companionship and affection: This refers to the emotional and psychological support, love, and affection that one spouse provides to another
  • Sexual relations: The injury or disease harmed the spouses’ physical intimacy, whether partially or totally
  • Household services: Loss of consortium may involve the loss of assistance with household chores, childcare, and other domestic responsibilities that the injured person provided to their spouse
  • Emotional support: It can encompass the emotional support and comfort that spouses offer one another during difficult times

The injured party and their spouse can file the loss of consortium claim.

Can a Child File a Loss of Consortium Claim if the Injured Party is a Parent?

A Kentucky child can make a loss of consortium claim as part of a wrongful death action. What can be obtained is limited to the relief in the state’s wrongful death act.

The right doesn’t include emancipated adult children. Given the advanced age of most of those dying of an asbestos-related disease, a parental loss of consortium claim would be rare because the deceased’s children are generally too old to file. Unadopted stepchildren don’t have a valid claim for the loss of consortium of a stepparent.

How Do You Prove Loss of Consortium?

The burden of proof is on the party making the claim, the plaintiff. A loss of consortium claim is not a throwaway, extra allegation used to lengthen a complaint. Like all alleged losses, we need to have evidence that an injury happened and it negatively impacted marital relations.

This claim enables the defense counsel to ask about your relationship before and after the disease or injury. Most people aren’t accustomed to discussing their personal relationships and sex lives in a room full of strangers. But that can happen during a deposition or a trial if your case is litigated.

Not all relationships are positive ones. If the spouses had a rocky relationship that wasn’t going well before the injury or disease was diagnosed and didn’t change much afterward, it may not be practical to make a claim for loss of consortium.

When a Satterley & Kelley, PLLC, attorney makes a case for a client, we thoroughly discuss what the marital relationship was like before and after the injury. That can be from testimony by the plaintiff, their spouse, family members, and friends.

We can also use photos and videos of spouses enjoying special events like birthdays, anniversaries, or vacations. They may also show how much of a toll asbestos takes on a person’s physical, emotional, and psychological well-being and discuss how that impacts a marital relationship.

Get Help If You Have Been Diagnosed with Mesothelioma

If you’re diagnosed with a type of mesothelioma, lung cancer, or another asbestos-related disease, you should focus on your medical care and quality of life while we protect your legal rights. If you’ve contracted a severe or fatal asbestos illness, you may be entitled to compensation, including for loss of consortium. To get help, contact us at Satterley & Kelley, PLLC today.

Statute of Limitations for Asbestos Injuries in KY

What is the Statute of Limitations for Asbestos Injuries in Kentucky?

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Your asbestos exposure may have happened decades ago, but you were recently diagnosed with mesothelioma or lung cancer. Have you missed your opportunity to seek compensation for your injuries?

Satterley & Kelley PLLC lawyers in Louisville have more than 25 years of experience helping our clients in Kentucky with asbestos and mesothelioma claims and lawsuits. Thanks to hundreds of millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements we helped them obtain, we’re known as one of the leading Kentucky law firms for those with asbestos-related diseases.

What is Asbestos?

Asbestos is a light, strong, durable mineral fiber that was used in thousands of products over centuries because it’s resistant to the following:

  • Heat
  • Fire
  • Chemicals
  • Electricity

If fibers are airborne, people can inhale or swallow them. Asbestos fibers may never leave the body or be destroyed by its immune response.

Why is Asbestos Dangerous?

Asbestos’ microscopic fibers, when released into the air and inhaled or swallowed, can pose serious health risks. The primary reasons why include:

  • Easily Inhaled or Swallowed: Asbestos fibers are tiny and lightweight, so they’re easily airborne. When people breathe in these fibers, they can become trapped in the lungs and other parts of the respiratory system. When the fibers get into the mouth and are ingested, they threaten the digestive system, abdominal organs, and the abdomen’s lining
  • Health Effects: Prolonged or repeated exposure to asbestos fibers can lead to various severe health conditions, including asbestos (a chronic lung disease causing breathing difficulties, coughing, and reduced lung function), lung cancer (those who smoked have a particularly high risk), mesothelioma (a rare and aggressive cancer that primarily affects the lining of the lungs (pleura) or the abdominal cavity (peritoneum)), and other cancers
  • Long Latency Period: Asbestos’ health effects often take years or decades to develop
  • Fiber Durability: Asbestos fibers in the body can remain for a long time, possibly for a person’s lifetime, causing continued health risks after initial exposure ceases
  • There’s No Safe Exposure Threshold: There is no known safe level of asbestos exposure. Even small amounts over time can potentially lead to health issues
  • Secondary Exposure: People who come into contact with asbestos-exposed individuals or environments (such as asbestos workers’ family members) can also be at risk, as fibers can be carried on clothing, skin, and hair).

Compared to the period of asbestos’ peak use (Industrial Revolution through the 1970s), overall, few new products contain asbestos for sale. Asbestos-containing vehicle parts were widely used for decades. They’re less common now, but they’re still used.

What is a Statute of Limitations?

A statute of limitations is a deadline to file a lawsuit. If you miss that deadline in an asbestos case, as a practical matter, you’ve lost your ability to claim damages or take legal action against those who injured you.

What is the Statute of Limitations for Kentucky Asbestos Cases?

Kentucky has a one year statute of limitations, which means you have one year to file your lawsuit.  However, it is not as simple as it seems.  Kentucky has adopted the Discovery Rule, which allows people to file their claim a year from the date they know or should know if they have an injury and know or should know its cause. Oftentimes, the statute of limitations begins to run from the date of diagnosis, but frequently, it starts sometime after diagnosis because the patient does not know how he or she was exposed. However, you have a duty to investigate the cause of your injury upon diagnosis. As a practical matter, you want to file your lawsuit as soon as possible, given the severity of asbestos-related diseases.

If a family member is diagnosed with an asbestos-related condition and dies within the year without filing legal claims, a wrongful death lawsuit can be filed by the personal representative of his or her estate. The personal representative has one year from the date he or she is appointed as the personal representative of the estate to file a lawsuit.

What Problems Do Those With Asbestos-Related Diseases Have With Filing Lawsuits in Time?

Plaintiffs in asbestos cases face two filing issues:

  1. Someone exposed to asbestos may not contract a related disease for another ten to 50 years. The person could file a lawsuit the day after their exposure, but it would be dismissed because they have no identifiable injury. Depending on the level of exposure and how their body responds to asbestos, a person may never suffer a related disease
  2. If they wait too long, more than a year after their diagnosis, their legal claims will be dismissed because they’ve gone beyond the statute of limitations

There are also practical considerations.

We need to know who to sue to file a lawsuit or claim against an asbestos bankruptcy trust. People often don’t know where they were exposed, how, or which products caused their exposure.

We work with these clients to try to nail down this information, often thanks to information we’ve developed over the years handling hundreds of these cases. Our staff will also try to find former coworkers to see if they have any helpful information.

Moving as quickly as possible is critical. You or your family need to contact our office immediately after a diagnosis. We must also start moving on the case because if your health suddenly worsens, your case becomes more difficult to pursue, and frequently, we can’t find former coworkers to help back up claims.

Call Us Today For a Free Consultation

After a diagnosis, there’s no time to waste because there’s a lot of work behind an asbestos claim or lawsuit. We can work together to build your case before the statute of limitations expires so you can get the most compensation possible.

Satterley & Kelley PLLC attorneys are your boots on the ground if you or someone you love in Kentucky suffers from mesothelioma or another asbestos-related illness. Call us at 855-385-9532, locally 502-589-5600, or contact us online to arrange a free initial consultation with a Satterley & Kelley PLLC lawyer.

PAUL J. KELLEY NAMED A KENTUCKY SUPER LAWYER FOR THE FOURTH YEAR IN A ROW

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The Law Office of Satterley & Kelley PLLC is pleased to announce that Paul J. Kelley has been named for 2024 as a “Kentucky Super Lawyer in Personal Injury,” marking the fourth year in a row that Paul has been recognized in this way.

2024 super lawyer

Fewer than 5% of the lawyers in Kentucky are selected as Super Lawyers.

Paul was specifically named a Super Lawyer in the personal injury products: plaintiff area.

Satterley & Kelley PLLC is known for handling complex personal injury and wrongful death cases.

Attorney Kelley

For attorney Kelley’s bio, click here.

Attorney Kelley has been practicing law in Kentucky since 2001, and was also chosen as a 2021, 2022 and 2023 Super Lawyer. Paul represents injury victims in a wide range of cases, with a special focus on asbestos and mesothelioma lawsuits.

To access the archive of the Super Lawyers magazine digital editions, click here.

Congratulations Paul!

Filing a Mesothelioma Lawsuit

How Sick Do I Have to Be to File an Asbestos Lawsuit or Claim?

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Asbestos exposure isn’t sufficient for a viable lawsuit, even though the fibers are potentially cancer-causing. As part of the lawsuit, you need to show asbestos affected you and that the defendants sued should compensate you. Without an impact you can document, your case will be dismissed.

What is Asbestos?

Asbestos is a light, strong, durable mineral fiber that was used in thousands of products over centuries because it’s resistant to the following:

  • Heat
  • Fire
  • Chemicals
  • Electricity

If fibers are airborne, people can inhale or swallow them. Asbestos fibers may never leave the body or be destroyed by its immune response.

Why is Asbestos Dangerous?

Asbestos’ microscopic fibers, when released into the air and inhaled or swallowed, can pose serious health risks. The primary reasons why include:

  • Easily Inhaled or Swallowed: Asbestos fibers are tiny and lightweight, so they’re easily airborne. When people breathe in these fibers, they can become trapped in the lungs and other parts of the respiratory system. When the fibers get into the mouth and are ingested, they threaten the digestive system, abdominal organs, and the abdominal lining
  • Health Effects: Prolonged or repeated exposure to asbestos fibers can lead to various severe health conditions, including asbestos (a chronic lung disease causing breathing difficulties, coughing, and reduced lung function), lung cancer (those who smoked have a particularly high risk), mesothelioma (a rare and aggressive cancer that primarily affects the lining of the lungs (pleura) or the abdominal cavity (peritoneum)), ovarian, uterine and other cancers
  • Long Latency Period: Asbestos’ health effects often take years or decades to develop
  • Fiber Durability: Asbestos fibers in the body can remain for a long time, possibly for a person’s lifetime, causing continued health risks after initial exposure ceases
  • There’s No Safe Exposure Threshold: There is no known safe level of asbestos exposure. Even small amounts over time can potentially lead to health issues
  • Secondary Exposure: People who come into contact with asbestos-exposed individuals or environments (such as asbestos workers’ family members) can also be at risk, as fibers can be carried on clothing, skin, and hair.

Compared to the period of asbestos’ peak use (Industrial Revolution through the 1970s), overall, few new products contain asbestos for sale.

You Need Not Have Lung Cancer or Mesothelioma to Seek Compensation

You don’t have to be fatally ill or even diagnosed with asbestos-related lung cancer or mesothelioma to have a valid lawsuit. It may be enough to have pleural plaques.

If you’re exposed to asbestos, areas of the pleura can become thickened. These areas are pleural plaques. People with pleural disease caused by exposure to asbestos may be able to function well despite the condition, but they’re at increased risk for lung cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Another, more serious asbestos-related effect on your body is asbestosis. This is a condition where it’s tough to breathe because you inhaled asbestos fibers, which scarred and inflamed your lungs. Those with asbestosis also face a higher risk of lung cancer, especially if they smoked in the past.

In Carroll v. Owens Corning (2000), the Kentucky Supreme Court, held that someone diagnosed with asbestosis could sue for compensation if he or she was diagnosed with a non-malignant disease and his or her fear of developing cancer.

When Should I File a Lawsuit?

Kentucky’s statute of limitations is one year. If you want to seek recovery for your injuries and fear of cancer, it must be filed within a year of when you learned or reasonably should have learned, that your injury is asbestos-related. That usually happens when you’re diagnosed.

In Carroll, the plaintiff developed asbestosis and didn’t file a legal action within a year. He did file a lawsuit within a year after his lung cancer diagnosis eight years later.

A federal trial judge agreed with the defendant that the plaintiff should’ve filed after his asbestosis diagnosis because that’s when he learned asbestos caused him harm. The Kentucky Supreme Court held that ruling violated state tort law.

‘…while Kentucky has never been a “two disease” state (which would allow for recovery following the discovery of each disease), because asbestosis and lung cancer are separate and distinct diseases, both arising from asbestos exposure, Kentucky’s one-year statute of limitations should not bar (plaintiff’s) cancer claim simply because (James) Carroll (the plaintiff) did not pursue a potential claim for the fear or the enhanced risk of developing cancer following an asbestosis diagnosis seven years earlier. Splitting causes of action inherently implies more than one action; nothing is split when only one action is brought. While Carroll’s claim for asbestosis is time-barred, (defendant) concedes that such claim was waived, as was any claim for the increased risk or fear of further asbestosis disease…This case does not turn so much on the rule against splitting causes of action, but more on pinpointing when a cause of action accrues in cases involving multiple diseases brought on by the same toxic agent…

…Unlike traditional torts, those involving toxic substances include a cause of injury that is difficult to trace, a period of exposure which is longer and more varied, harms more susceptible to misdiagnosis, and a greater number of victims…because of the latency of the diseases, statutes of limitations force plaintiffs to go to court before they have all the facts about their illness. Often the claimant must move forward before there has been a definitive diagnosis of likely injury from the exposure to asbestos.

When James Carroll was diagnosed with asbestosis in 1983, he should not have been obligated to predict cancer, nor should he be penalized for suing for the greater, more provable damage, rather than taking up judicial resources attempting to prove the ephemeral damages covered by “enhanced risk or fear of cancer.” Because of the length of time between the diagnoses of these two diseases, it is possible that an asbestosis suit could have been filed and adjudicated before he ever knew he had cancer, leaving him no direct remedy for the more serious disease.’

You can file within a year of learning of your asbestos-related disease. If your case settles or you’re successful at a trial, you’ll recover compensation. But if the legal action is resolved and you later develop lung cancer or mesothelioma, you can’t file a second lawsuit because of the additional harm. If a new condition develops while your claim is pending, it can be updated to reflect your current health.

No matter your situation, we can discuss your health, your legal rights, and the right strategy to obtain the most compensation possible.

Why You Should Hire Satterley & Kelley, PLLC for Your Cancer Case

If you’re diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related cancer, you may be entitled to compensation for what you’ve endured. This includes physical and mental pain and suffering, financial costs, medical bills, and how the disease impacts your relationships. It can be due to asbestos released during accidental fires or any other source.

You need a law firm with experience representing victims taking legal action against the asbestos industry. Satterley & Kelley, PLLC attorneys have helped asbestos victims for more than 25 years.

We have relationships with the best experts in the world to help us prove that asbestos caused your injury and the physical, emotional, psychological, and financial harm you suffered.

Get Help If You’ve Been Diagnosed With an Asbestos-Related Disease

Take advantage of Satterley & Kelley, PLLC attorneys’ extensive experience helping people injured by asbestos at work, through a product, or from secondary exposure at home. To get help today, contact us at 855-385-9532, locally 502-589-5600 or schedule a free consultation. 

How Does Asbestos Cause Cancer?

How Does Asbestos Cause Cancer?

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Asbestos causes different cancers, but how exactly this happens isn’t known. But there are well-researched theories that link these fibers, how they interact with cells, and how those cells and the body’s immune system respond. Cancer appears to result from a long and complex chain of events that starts with normal cells supporting life and ends with malignant ones draining life away.

What is Asbestos?

Asbestos is a light, strong, durable mineral fiber used in thousands of products over centuries because it’s resistant to heat, fire, chemicals, and electricity. If fibers are airborne, people can inhale or swallow them. Asbestos fibers may never leave the body or be destroyed by its immune response. Over years or decades, these fibers may cause many cancer types, including highly aggressive and lethal mesotheliomas.

What is the Human Immune System?

The immune system protects your body from outside invaders and diseased, mutated, or dying cells. Dangers from the outside could be viruses, bacteria, fungi, and asbestos fibers. This system has different proteins, organs, and cells that work together, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

The immune system has two parts: the innate system we’re born with and the adaptive system, which develops as we live and are exposed to different toxins, germs, and bacteria. These two systems work together.

What is Inflammation?

When your body encounters viruses, bacteria, mutated cells, or you’re injured, the immune system sends inflammatory cells and cytokines (which stimulate more inflammatory cells). This inflammatory response traps offending agents or starts healing damaged tissue. This may cause swelling, redness, bruising, and pain, reports the Cleveland Clinic.

There are two kinds of inflammation:

  • You suffer sudden bodily harm, like a cut. To heal it, your body sends inflammatory cells to the injury, causing acute inflammation. These cells start the healing process
  • If your immune system continues sending inflammatory cells after the danger passes, you have chronic inflammation. Rheumatoid arthritis is an example where inflammatory cells and substances attack healthy joint tissues, causing inflammation that can severely damage joints, resulting in pain and deformities

Inflammation is a double-edged immune response sword. A little may be good, but a lot may be very harmful.

Is There a Connection Between Inflammation and Cancer?

German pathologist Rudolf Virchow, in 1863, observed white blood cells (part of the immune response) in cancerous tissues and came up with a new idea about how cancer starts. Some tumors, he proposed, may start where there’s chronic inflammation, reports the National Cancer Institute.

His proposal has withstood the test of time. Chronic inflammation in certain body parts, including where asbestos fibers are lodged, may increase cancer risk.  Inflammation is now considered a hallmark of cancer. Researchers are studying the possible role inflammation takes in cancer, how it spreads, and what makes tumors treatment-resistant.

The inflammatory process starts when damaged tissues release chemicals, white blood cells travel to the area, and emit substances that cause cells to divide and grow to begin the recovery process. The inflammation should end when the injury heals.

When inflammation gets out of control, it may contribute to cancer development and growth. Sometimes, tumors take advantage of this inflammatory environment to exclude tumor-fighting immune cells.

When inflammation does its job, it’s a lifesaver. We may have many cancer cells and budding tumors in our bodies, but they don’t become a problem if a healthy immune system kills them or at least limits their growth.

Researchers look at inflammation as a way to kill cancer cells, while others are testing how drugs reducing inflammation may do the same (especially in situations where inflammation keeps cancer-killing immune cells away from a tumor).

In a healthy body, immune cells produce chemicals that may kill viruses or fungi. These reactive oxygen species may also damage the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA, the biological molecule containing instructions an organism needs to survive, develop, and reproduce) of normal cells, which increases the risk of mutations that could lead to cancer.

Timing may be the difference between healthy healing and the creation of cancer tumors. Usually, the production of cells to replace injured or defective tissue is delayed until these reactive chemicals are no longer present. This reduces the risk replacement cells will suffer DNA damage, which may include mutations that cause tumor creation.

During chronic inflammation, this timing is off. Reactive chemicals and new cells that are supposed to repair injured tissue can be present at the same time. This may boost the risk of developing cancer.

How Would This Work With Asbestos-Related Cancers?

A 2010 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences laid out a theory of how asbestos and inflammation can result in tumor formation.

Asbestos fibers kill cells, and a dead cell shouldn’t lead to creating a malignant tumor. The problem may arise in how the cells are destroyed. When an asbestos fiber kills a human cell, it starts “programmed cell necrosis.” That causes the release of the high-mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1).

HMGB1 starts an inflammatory reaction that causes mutagens (substances that can cause cells to mutate) and chemicals that promote tumor growth. Researchers found that asbestos-exposed patients have higher levels of HMGB1 in their bodies.

They propose that one way to slow down, if not eliminate, asbestos-caused cancer would be to interfere with HMGB1, which should limit the inflammatory reaction, decreasing cancer incidence and tumor growth.

Another study about inflammation and mesothelioma published two years later stated, “There is consistent evidence to suggest an association between a systemic inflammatory response…and poorer prognosis.”

A study published this year stated, “A chronic inflammatory state is the essential element characterizing the (creation of pleural mesothelioma). The picture is exceptionally complex, with numerous cellular and environmental interactions building a unique tumor microenvironment (TME) supporting malignant mesothelial cell transformation and proliferation.”

The start of mesothelioma is associated with asbestos exposure, according to the study, and the activation of immune system cells in the surrounding tissue. This leads to oxidative stress, which can lead to mutations and the release of chemicals that result in inflammation, causing a runaway chain of molecular events that result in mesothelioma tumors.

You don’t want too much of a good thing. Our immune systems can kill cancer cells, but too much of an immune response, which causes chronic inflammation, can create a cellular environment where mesothelioma cells develop and spread. “Consistently, the over-activation of the immune system is correlated with worse patient outcomes and poor responses to treatment.”

Why You Should Hire Satterley & Kelley, PLLC for Your Cancer Case

If you’re diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related cancer, you may be entitled to compensation for what you’ve endured. This includes physical and mental pain and suffering, financial costs, medical bills, and how the disease impacts your relationships.

You need a law firm with experience representing victims taking legal action against the asbestos industry. Satterley & Kelley, PLLC attorneys have helped asbestos victims for more than 20 years.

We have relationships with the best experts in the world to help us prove that asbestos caused your injury and the physical, emotional, psychological, and financial harm you suffered.

Call Us Today for A Free Consultation

Satterley & Kelley, PLLC attorneys are your boots on the ground if you or someone you love suffers from mesothelioma or an asbestos-related illness in Kentucky. To discuss possible compensation for the harm you suffer and legal claims against those responsible, call our Louisville office at 502-589-5600 (toll-free at 855-385-9532) or contact us online.