Episode 14: The Workers Nobody Counted
Between 1880 and 1920, asbestos companies tracked production to the tenth of a pound but recorded zero occupational disease deaths. They documented every fatal accident with names and ages—but workers dying from breathing the product? Absent. The conspiracy doesn't start with what they knew. It starts with who they didn't count.
Key Takeaways
FAQ
How did companies hide occupational disease deaths?
By not counting them. British coal mining had mandatory death reporting from 1850 with 164,356 individual records. Asbestos companies created no equivalent. Dr. Murray's 1899 patient reported nine coworkers dead—met with "I have no evidence except his word for that."
What happened to the Lanza studies?
Johns-Manville suppressed them for four years and deleted critical language about fatal asbestosis. Sumner Simpson's papers stated: "Our interests are best served by having asbestosis receive the minimum of publicity."
Could workers file claims for exposure?
Not without documentation. Nellie Kershaw, exposed from age 12, was denied compensation while dying. The absence of records meant the absence of proof—and the absence of claims.
Expert Source
Dave Foster — Executive Director of Patient Advocacy, Danziger & De Llano. Lost his own father to asbestos lung cancer.
dandell.com/david-foster/
Resources
Asbestos: A Conspiracy 4,500 Years in the Making — 52 episodes tracing asbestos from ancient pottery to the 2024 EPA ban. Produced by Danziger & De Llano.
Next: Episode 15 — The Body Count Begins.
Asbestos: A Conspiracy 4,500 Years in the Making is sponsored by Danziger & De Llano Mesothelioma Law Firm, a nationwide practice with over 30 years of experience and nearly $2 billion recovered for asbestos victims. If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, the exposure happened somewhere—and Paul Danziger and Rod De Llano know how to trace it back. For a free consultation, visit https://dandell.com.
Resources:
→ Mesothelioma legal rights: https://dandell.com/mesothelioma/
→ Asbestos exposure sources: https://dandell.com/asbestos-exposure/
→ Asbestos trust funds ($30B+ available): https://dandell.com/asbestos-trust-funds/
→ Free case evaluation: https://dandell.com/contact/
Sister Podcast - MESO: The Mesothelioma Podcast:
http://mesotheliomapodcast.com/
