May 16th, 2007

A woman whose husband died from lung cancer is blaming his disease and his death on occupational exposure to asbestos, despite the fact that he had been described as a very heavy cigar smoker. Lula Delafosse has filed a lawsuit naming a number of companies as defendants following the death of her husband Louis Delafosse from lung cancer.

The lawsuit was filed in the Jefferson County District Court earlier in May, and names over forty companies as defendants, including AO Smith Corp., Zurn Industries, and Lockhead Martin. Mr. Delafosse was eighty- seven when he died from lung cancer.

According the medical records Mr. Delafosse had been a heavy cigar smoker, but had also had significant exposure to asbestos during his career. One of the most likely places where this exposure may have occurred, according to the records, was at John Dallinger Steel, where he had worked for a number of years.

The defendants named in the lawsuit have been accused of being negligent for failing to properly test their products before allowing them to be distributed on the market and used.