Mesothelioma in Women: Alarming Death Rates Linked to Asbestos

The number of women dying from malignant mesothelioma has been climbing since 1999, according to a 2022 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study. Over the past two decades, the number of deaths due to mesothelioma has increased by 25%. This includes 489 women succumbing to the disease in 1999 and 614 dying from this aggressive cancer in 2020. ⁽¹⁾

The largest number of mesothelioma deaths was attributed to women who were identified as homemakers, nearly 23%. Women who had worked in health care and social assistance occupations also represent a large percentage of mesothelioma related deaths, close to 16%. Slightly more than 10% were schoolteachers or registered nurses. ⁽²⁾

Many women contract mesothelioma from caring for their family and washing their husband’s asbestos-covered clothes. Others work in old buildings with asbestos that were being remodeled, or in the office of companies involved with asbestos in some way.

This highlights the concerning trend of mesothelioma in women, indicating a growing need for awareness and preventative measures.

How Quickly Does Mesothelioma in Women Progress?

Mesothelioma has a long latency period. This means you may not notice any symptoms for 30 to 50 years after your initial exposure to asbestos. However, once you begin to notice symptoms, your disease may be advanced.

Mesothelioma is considered aggressive. It may spread rapidly and cause life-threatening complications. Usually, your prognosis is poor. Patients diagnosed with advanced pleural mesothelioma have a “median survival of only about 12-14 months with current therapies.” ⁽³⁾ Products containing asbestos are still used in the U.S. today. In addition, some activities — such as home remodeling and demolition of older buildings — put people’s lives at risk.

Both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognize and acknowledge the debilitating “asbestos-related respiratory diseases and cancers” linked to asbestos exposure. Both organizations regulate its use. ⁽⁴⁾

However, even though the use of asbestos has declined sharply, the CDC’s findings suggest “that annual number of mesothelioma deaths among women” will continue to increase. ⁽⁵⁾

What Is the Life Expectancy of Someone with Mesothelioma?

Generally, a person diagnosed with mesothelioma lives just 4 to 18 months after being diagnosed. “The current five-year survival rate for the disease is just 10 percent.” ⁽⁶⁾

“In March 2024, the EPA banned asbestos,” says Weitz & Luxenberg partner Charles Ferguson, chair of our firm’s asbestos department. “The ban doesn’t go into effect right away. It also does not cover all types and cases of asbestos.”

Mr. Ferguson emphasizes, “In the meantime, hundreds of people will be diagnosed with this debilitating form of cancer. It is incredibly sad to see the number of women patients increasing. Each mesothelioma diagnosis harms not only the victim, but multiple family members, friends, and other loved ones. Each life lost is one too many.”

In addition to facing mesothelioma from asbestos-contaminated talcum powder, women using it have also been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. W&L has a team dedicated to this growing asbestos litigation area.

What Are the Final Days of Life Like with Mesothelioma?

Symptoms you may feel while suffering with advanced mesothelioma may be due to the spread of the cancer. This means the cancer has metastasized. The tumor may also have gotten larger. ⁽⁷⁾ Mesothelioma has potentially spread: ⁽⁸⁾

• Through your diaphragm into the lining around your peritoneum, the membrane that surrounds your abdominal organs.
• Into organs in your chest, including your esophagus that leads to your stomach, or your windpipe that leads to your lungs.
• To the pleura lining the other side of your chest wall.
• To your spine.
• Into your heart.

Possible warning signs of mesothelioma for women include: ⁽⁹⁾

• Persistent shortness of breath.
• Chest pain.
• Unexplained weight loss.
• Coughing up blood.

Other potential mesothelioma symptoms include: ⁽¹⁰⁾

• Cough.
• Trouble breathing.
• Pain or swelling in the abdomen.
• Lumps in the abdomen.
• Constipation.
• Complications from blood clots.
• Extreme fatigue

How Does Mesothelioma Start?

Asbestos is a cancer-causing agent. Even limited, short-term exposure to asbestos fibers can be deadly.

If you inhale asbestos fibers, they can settle in your lungs and accumulate there. Years or decades later, you could be diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Symptoms often take decades to show up enough for you to notice them. By the time you see your doctor and receive a diagnosis, your mesothelioma will probably be advanced.

What Is Palliative Care?

For patients living with advanced mesothelioma, you may consider palliative care. The goal of palliative care is simply to help you feel better. ⁽¹¹⁾

Palliative care “prevents or treats symptoms and side effects of disease and treatment.” Palliative care also treats emotional, social, practical, and spiritual problems that illnesses can bring up. Your quality of life may improve because you feel better. ⁽¹²⁾

Who Is Fighting for Women Harmed by Asbestos?

Weitz & Luxenberg was founded in the mid-1980s specifically to help people harmed by asbestos exposure. For decades, companies and industries have turned a blind eye to worker safety.

As a result, thousands of people have developed devastating diseases due to asbestos exposure over the years. We’ve added a focused attorney team to handle litigation involving deadly cancers originating from using asbestos-contaminated talcum powder.

But W&L has always been there. We’ve made it our mission to fight for people who have been harmed by the negligent, sometimes ruthless, actions of others.

Over the years, we have represented tens of thousands of clients across the country. And we’re not about to stop.

What Major Asbestos Lawsuits Has Weitz & Luxenberg Won?

W&L has won multiple trial verdicts for clients diagnosed with asbestos exposure related diseases. For example, a jury awarded five of our clients a total of $190 million in a consolidated landmark trial for victims of mesothelioma. All of those clients worked in blue-collar industries.

We also achieved our largest ever single case win, $75 million, on behalf of a female client. She developed mesothelioma through daily secondary exposure. This happened because she laundered the clothes covered in asbestos dust that her husband wore home at the end of each workday.

In a similar case, W&L won $43 million on behalf of a female client of ours. She developed mesothelioma after years of exposure to asbestos from her husband’s contaminated work clothes.

We secured a $23 million verdict on behalf of yet another female client. Although she worked in an office, she was exposed to asbestos daily while collecting soil tickets from workstations at an industrial laundry facility.