A Mississippi woman who developed cancer after years of washing clothes covered with asbestos dust has settled a lawsuit against four companies that she claims caused her sickness.

Patsy Jean Bodkin washed her father’s and brother’s asbestos dust-covered work clothes for years. She claims the dust ultimately caused her mesothelioma – a cancer with only one known cause: asbestos exposure.

Bodkin is now confined to a bed in a nursing home. She relies on morphine and oxygen.

Secondhand asbestos exposure suits are uncommon, according to attorneys.

“It’s more common to see asbestos claims from the person who works hands-on with it at work,” said David Marshall, one of the defendants’ attorneys.

The settlement terms are confidential, said G. Patterson Keahey, Bodkin’s attorney.

Bodkin, now 60, sought care when she began feeling sick and having trouble breathing in 2003. According to Keahey, doctors found a buildup of fluid in her lungs and diagnosed her with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Bodkin filed the suit last year against four companies that manufactured roofing, siding, insulation products, and construction materials her brother and father worked with.

The suit alleges that the four companies (Georgia-Pacific Corp., Kelly-Moore Paint Co., Inc. Certainteed Corp., and Bondex International Inc.) failed to warn consumers about the dangers associated with asbestos exposure despite knowledge of the potential harm since the 1960’s.

“We believe if people have injuries or illnesses that were caused by asbestos-containing products that are our products, those people should be compensated,” said James Malone, spokesman for Georgia-Pacific.

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