Asbestos Lung Cancer Victim Files Lawsuit Against Hospital
West Virginia resident Donna R. Spurling has filed an asbestos-related lung cancer lawsuit against a West Virginia college, accusing them of negligence in having exposed her to asbestos hidden in the walls of her buildings. In addition to Fairmont State University, her suit also names the Fairmont State Board of Governors, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Monongalia County General Hospital, United Hospital Center, and the Fairmont Medical Center.
Asbestos Case Had Pending Settlement When Defendants Canceled Negotiations
According to the lung cancer victim’s attorney, she was closing on a $650,000 settlement with Fairmont State University when the school pulled out of negotiations and hired attorneys known for doing asbestos defense work across West Virginia. He has argued that many of these attorneys recuse themselves because they were previously fact witnesses defending the same companies whose asbestos had originally contaminated the buildings where Ms. Spurling was exposed.
According to the lung cancer claim, the school knew for five decades that legacy asbestos was exposing students and others to the risk of illness but suppressed the information. Ms. Spurling asserts that her exposure occurred between 1998 and 2004 when she was a student. According to a statement from her representative, “All the buildings at Fairmont State have asbestos-containing building materials. Floor tiles, ceiling tile, joint compound, HVAC ductwork, boiler insulation, pipe insulation, and over the years, those materials disintegrate and fall apart, and they get into the breathing zones and get into the HVAC systems, and it gets people sick.”
Asbestos Lawsuit Raises Question of Conflict of Interest
According to the asbestos lawsuit, two members of the Fairmont State University Board of Governors have connections to asbestos manufacturers. Ms. Spurling’s claim cites a 1986 asbestos lawsuit filed by then-State Attorney General Charlie Brown against dozens of asbestos manufacturers whose product contaminated buildings across the state, including Fairmont State University, Fairmont Medical Center, and buildings at Marshall University and West Virginia University.
A $20 million settlement in that earlier case was supposed to have been used for remediation, but the state only remediated buildings in the state’s Capitol Complex, where government officials work. The lung cancer lawsuit accuses the school of having “performed piecemeal asbestos abatement projects, none of which completely removed the asbestos-containing materials from its contaminated buildings” and of failing to warn former or current students of the presence of asbestos on the campus.
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