More than seventy companies have declared bankruptcy since 1982 due to asbestos lawsuits. It's estimated that between 60,000 and 128,000 American workers already have lost their jobs because of asbestos-related bankruptcies. The total number of jobs lost may eventually reach 432,000. Each worker who loses a job due to an asbestos-related bankruptcy loses between $25,000 and $50,000 in wages over their careers. Those workers also see the value of their 401(k) retirement plans drop by 25 percent or more due to bankruptcies.

Asbestos litigation has cost our court system. In 2002, the RAND Institute for Civil Justice estimated that 600,000 asbestos claims and lawsuits have been filed, costing businesses more than $54 billion. The study also found that 65 percent of compensation over the last decade was paid to people with non-cancerous conditions. A recent study by Tillinghast revealed asbestos claims as the single largest contributor to rising tort costs. Tillinghast estimates that without sweeping structural changes to the tort system including asbestos reform, annual tort costs could approach $1,000 per U.S. citizen by 2006.