Thomas Brown, Jr. labored on oil rigs for three decades unloading raw asbestos; he now suffers from lung disease as a result and requires oxygen 24 hours a day in order to breathe. Last month he saw his record $322 million verdict wiped away by an appeals court and will have to go to trial for a second time.

Asbestos was commonly used in all kinds of products in the 1960s and 1970s but cancer caused by the toxin typically takes decades to develop and many of those lawsuits are just now going to trial.

It’s not uncommon for juries to get angry and award large verdicts when they see that companies who made asbestos hid its dangers, said Juan P. Bauta, an attorney with The Ferraro Law Firm in Miami.

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