A Broward County jury awarded more than $20 million recently to a man and his wife after the husband was exposed to asbestos and diagnosed with mesothelioma in Florida. Mesothelioma lawyers at The Ferraro Law Firm — which serves clients in Florida, New York, Washington D.C., and nationwide — were able to secure the large verdict on behalf of the victim and his family.

In this case, the 61-year-old man was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2008 after spending years working in an environment that contained Union Carbide Corp. asbestos.

The Ferraro Law Firm’s Juan Bauta argued that the man was exposed to the asbestos while working with Georgia Pacific’s joint compound, which contained Union Carbide asbestos. The victim did the work in 1974 and 1975. He never saw any warning labels on the buckets of Georgia Pacific joint compound and didn’t know it contained potentially harmful asbestos.

“It is remarkable to me that Union Carbide did not attempt to try to settle this case rather than put the Garrisons through more than two weeks of intense trial,” said Bauta, who acted as lead counsel. Attorney Case Dam, also of The Ferraro Law Firm, assisted in the victory on behalf of another mesothelioma victim in Florida.

Asbestos exposure can lead to a diagnosis of mesothelioma years and sometimes decades later, which makes it a unique form of cancer, for which there is no cure. Someone could have worked at a factory or older building or by using common products such as car brakes, piping and insulation that contained asbestos without knowing it.

For years, buildings and parts were built by using asbestos, which companies later discovered was harmful to employees. Yet getting it out of their factories and buildings is expensive. In many cases, businesses put their profits ahead of their employees’ safety, exposing many to asbestos. Now retired, they get the terrible diagnosis. Regardless of where a patient lives when diagnosed with mesothelioma, he or she should immediately seek the qualified legal representation of an experienced mesothelioma law firm.

This victim was exposed in the 1970s and wasn’t diagnosed until 2008. But once diagnosed, the median lifespan is only 12 months, an especially quick time frame for a cancer that takes so long to manifest itself through its common symptoms.

Typical symptoms are heavy coughing, chest pain, fluid build-up and other respiratory problems that can often be confused with other sicknesses. It is important to visit a doctor who specializes in mesothelioma if you experience the symptoms of mesothelioma and believe you may have unknowingly been exposed to asbestos in a prior job.

Asbestos isn’t regularly used in the United States anymore. But it still remains in many older products and buildings, including schools and apartments. It is widely known that asbestos is dangerous. Yet many officials have ignored the warnings.