Legal claims for injuries from asbestos involve more plaintiffs, more defendants and higher costs than any other type of personal injury litigation in U.S. history. As of the end of 2002, 730,000 individuals had filed lawsuits against more than 8,400defendants, and the total amount that defendants and insurers had spent on resolving claims-including all legal costs-was estimated to be 70 dollar billion (Carroll et al., 2004). Eighty-five corporations have filed for bankruptcy due to asbestos liabilities, and several insurance companies have either failed or are in financial distress (White, 2002b). Estimates of the total number of people who will eventually file claims range from 1.0 million to 3.0 million, and estimates of the eventual cost of asbestos litigation range from 200-265 dollar billion (Carroll et al., 2004).
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