If you were to poll people about the typical causes of lung cancer, most of them would give you the same answer. Smoking and other forms of tobacco use have a strong correlation with someone eventually developing lung cancer. If you have used tobacco products for any extended period of time, you probably already know that your risk of lung cancer is higher than average.
However, there is also plenty of research that directly connects lung cancer with workplace asbestos exposure. If you handled asbestos frequently at work years ago and now have lung cancer, does your current or previous use of tobacco prevent you from filing a claim for compensation?
Smoking won’t make you solely responsible for your condition
It is possible that your former employer could point to your tobacco use as a contributing factor for your lung cancer, but the asbestos exposure you had at work drastically increased the negative impact of your tobacco use.
When someone smokes, they increase the chances of developing lung cancer by10 times. Asbestos exposure will increase someone’s risk of lung cancer five times. If you both smoke and have significant exposure to asbestos, your risk of lung cancer is a staggering 50 times higher than the risk of someone who never smoked or had noteworthy asbestos exposure.
You can potentially still make a claim against your former employer for compensation related to your lung cancer despite your history of using tobacco. Knowing your rights when dealing with a diagnosis with an asbestos-related medical condition can help you pursue both justice and financial support during this difficult time.