Forty-six Defendants Named in West Virginia Asbestos Cases

In mid-June, attorneys filed suits on behalf of three plaintiffs in Kanawha County, West Virginia circuit court, naming 46 defendants who they claim are all partially responsible for the deaths of two of the plaintiffs and the current deteriorating medical state of the third.

The complaint states that the plaintiffs were "exposed to respirable asbestos dust and other harmful dusts as the result of the manufacture, sale, distribution and installation of asbestos-containing products by the defendants at their places of work in West Virginia and Kentucky."

Among the defendants named in the suit are Owens Illinois, Kentucky Power, Appalachian Power, Ohio Valley Electric, Aristech Chemical, Ashland Oil and/or Marathon Ashland Petroleum, Cabell-Huntington Hospital and INCO Alloys. 

The plaintiffs were either employed at one or more of the above mentioned businesses or were exposed to asbestos-containing products manufactured by those businesses.  All three plaintiffs – Joseph Russell, Ronald Vanglider, and Charles Thompson – developed malignant pleural mesothelioma on the job.  Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the lining of the lung and chest cavity.  There is currently no cure for the disease and most sufferers die within months of diagnosis.  The disease can remain dormant for up to 50 years.