May 25th, 2007

A lawyer from Levy, Phillips & Konigsberg, LLP in New York has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a woman that died from asbestos related cancer. The woman, Catherine Lozo Gerber, was the third member of a family from Jefferson County, New York, to die from the asbestos related cancer, mesothelioma.

Her brother worked in the talc mines at Natural Bridge for over a decade. The lawsuit states that he and his late sister and mother, who also died from mesothelioma, were all exposed to asbestos dust and fibers from talc. One lawyer stated: "It's a statistical improbability for the rare asbestos-related cancer to occur in a town of less than 400 persons."

He added that there had been at least fifteen deaths from the asbestos related cancer in the state of New York among talc workers. In addition to her brother working in the mines, Catherine's father also worked in talc mines, unknowingly exposing his family to deadly asbestos dust.

The lawyer added: "Talc mine workers had no reason to think that the mineral was dangerous. Catherine Lozo Gerber, who filed her own lawsuit after she developed mesothelioma, testified before her death in a deposition that her father sometimes took her to work - not knowing that he was exposing his daughter to cancer-causing dust."