General Dynamics Corp. and Asbestos

General Dynamics Corporation is one of the biggest defense contractors in the world, and it has a long history since the late 19th century, in fact of making ships, submarines, airplanes, and other vehicles that have components that contained dangerously high levels of asbestos. In recent years, General Dynamics has been the defendant in a significant number of asbestos lawsuits filed by those who have suffered serious injury because of asbestos exposure.

General Dynamics by Other Names

Below are some General Dynamics companies, some of which have also been named as defendants in asbestos lawsuits:

• •Electric Boat Company
  •Convair
  • Mercury-Atlas (rockets)
  • National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO)
  • Bath Iron Works
  • Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.
  • Asbestos Corporation Ltd.

Many Products with Asbestos

Over the past century, General Dynamics has employed tens of thousands of people to make thousands of aircraft, sea vessels, etc. for the U.S. Navy, other branches of the military, and commercial customers. Among the most popular General Dynamics products are:

• • Gulfstream jets
  • Tankers
  • Submarines
  • Surface combat ships

The components of General Dynamics products such as these plus the steelyards, shipyards, and worksites where they were manufactured often had asbestos at a level that was toxic to personnel in the area. Thousands of individuals who worked on these products in the decades before the 1980s have contracted asbestos-related diseases including:

• • asbestosis
  • Lung cancer
  • Mesothelioma

Asbestos Can Be Deadly

Working with asbestos can put a person at risk of inhaling the invisible fibers of which asbestos is made. The fibers can become lodged in the body’s lungs and/or other internal organs, where they may lead to the development of serious illnesses. The symptoms of asbestos-caused diseases may not become obvious until decades after the exposure to asbestos occurred.

Once the symptoms are present and diagnosed correctly, it may or may not be too late for treatment. Mesothelioma, for example, is nearly always fatal. Unfortunately, many people who were ship and aircraft workers in the 1940s and 50s have been diagnosed with mesothelioma since the 1980s.

Learn More

If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease after working at General Dynamics, contact us today to learn more about your legal options.