John Johnson died a few months ago from mesothelioma, a disease caused by asbestos exposure.  Johnson was a Marine veteran.  He sued multiple companies he believed responsible for his condition, but never went to court.  Now, the family is asserting that the lawyers drove Johnson to his death by putting him through brutal series of depositions just so their clients could save money.

Despite the fact that his doctors stated that 12 hours of depositions over a few weeks would be all that Johnson could handle, an LA judge allowed the companies he was suing a total of 25 hours.  As a result, Johnson put off returning to the hospital so that he could go to every session.  In the last session, his face contorted in paid, he gasped out answers and in less than 40 minutes he collapsed.  The very next day he died in the hospital.  This reduces their recovery in or out of court by as much as 70%.

Johnson’s family, lawyers and doctors assert that they have no doubt that the defense lawyers stretched out the process with the hope he would die before they went to trial.  Essentially, the defense lawyers pushed him to his death.  Johnson worked as a carpenter, auto mechanic, and plumber from 1961 until 1990.  He was very athletic, water skied, motorcycle raced and cycled.  Then, in 2010 he couldn’t catch his breath.  He went to the hospital, the surgeon opened him up and told him to go home and die.

An elderly couple is suing 73 companies over asbestos exposure.  They claim that all of the companies were aware and, thus, should have informed them of the side-effects of asbestos.  The husband was an insulator from 1956 until 1993.  During this time, he was exposed to asbestos-contained products.  The prosecutors claim that the companies are laible for negligence, misrepresentation, break of implied or expressed warranty, and post-safe duty to warn consumers of the effects of asbestos contained in their products.  Basically, the companies should have informed customers about the asbestos either in the packages or through communication at the point of sale.

However, because they did not, Mauney was exposed for nearly four decades.  It is now up to the courts to decide if the defendants were negligent.  However, it does not look favorable for the defendants, especially considering last fall a Florida jury awarded an asbestos victim $20 million.