As many as 10 million asbestosis claims have been filed, with an ultimate cost estimated as high as $265 billion.

?Payments so far total at least $70 billion.

?Seven independent studies have shown “error rates” (false claims of asbestosis) of between 78 and 97.5 percent.

?One doctor “diagnosed” more than 88,000 patients, performing as many as 150 X-ray readings per day.

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?Most original defendants actually manufactured products with asbestos. But now plaintiffs are focusing on “secondary defendants” who merely used asbestos-containing products at one time – and current defendants include hospitals, universities and even grocery stores.

?One plaintiffs’ lawyer recently called asbestos litigation “the endless search for a solvent bystander.”

?“Shopping” for places with more favorable laws, attorneys increasingly file class-action asbestosis suits in states where most of the plaintiffs don’t even live. Defendant CSX in West Virginia reports that only 578 out of 5,325 plaintiffs in that case actually live in West Virginia.

Source: Trial Lawyers, Inc. Asbestos: A report on the Asbestos Litigation Industry, 2008, The Manhattan Institute Center for Legal Policy