Garford Gaskin, a citizen of the United Kingdom who suffers from malignant mesothelioma resulting from exposure to asbestos when he worked for British Rail some 40 years ago, has been denied access to Alimta, a drug recognized as having beneficial effects for mesothelioma sufferers.
A federal appeals court has ruled that a district court judge acted properly in requiring the federal government to finalize its list of witnesses and documents in the asbestos case against W.R. Grace and Co., the owners of a vermiculite mine in Libby , Montana , which was contaminated with asbestos.
Researchers in the United Kingdom have completed a study which found that chemotherapy treatments do not have any substantial positive impact on patients suffering from malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma, which is caused by exposure to asbestos, is generally incurable, but some clinicians have held out hope that chemotherapy treatment could delay mortality or improve patients’ quality of life, hopes dashed by the study (more…)
New Zealand asbestos activist Aire Grootegoed, 82, received a lifetime achievement award for his work in raising awareness of the health risks posed by asbestos at the Workplace Health and Safety Conference in April of 2008. Mr. Grootegoed lives in New Lynn, New Zealand, and has spent many years acting as a support and resource person for those afflicted with, and dying from, asbestos-related illnesses.
Julian Peto, a British cancer research specialist, has released the results of a study that indicates one in ten carpenters in Australia and the United Kingdom born before 1950 will die of malignant mesothelioma – more than five times the mortality rate found in the United States .
An intensive grassroots lobbying effort, in conjunction with more than a dozen US Senators, are pushing the Department of Defense to include funds for mesothelioma research in its 2009 appropriations request. Supporters of the initiative believe that since at least a third of those suffering from mesothelioma are Navy veterans or shipyard workers who built Navy ships, the DoD should step up its efforts to fund research into the deadly mesothelial cancer.
Cancer researchers have developed a conditional mouse model for malignant mesothelioma which will aid future researchers in studying the progression and treatment of this deadly disease. While chemotherapy provides some improvement in overall survival rates, there is no cure for malignant mesothelioma and patients typically die within one year of diagnosis. Researchers are hopeful that the new model animal may lead to the development of functional therapies to treat malignant mesothelioma.
Political leaders in the state of Minnesota have reached agreement on funding a $4.9 million study of the relationship between taconite mining and mesothelioma, after a lengthy negotiation over where in the state budget the money would come from. An original plan to withdraw the money from a worker’s compensation fund met with objections from Governor Tim Pawlenty, who claimed it would result in increases in worker’s compensation premiums paid by Minnesota businesses.
Marc Kendrickx, an Australian geologist and doctoral student, is conducting an Australia-wide study attempting to map previously-unknown areas of the island nation where residents may be at risk of developing mesothelioma. Australia has substantial asbestos deposits, but many of the deposits are not well-mapped because they were too small to be commercially exploited.
Plans for the demolition and redevelopment of a former nurse’s dormitory in Moline , Illinois , have been put on hold after an anonymous tip about the presence of asbestos in the old building prompted the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to intervene. The demolition, originally scheduled for the summer of 2007, was ordered stopped after the EPA investigated the allegation and found asbestos containing materials in the building.
Few emergency services workers take the job because they expect a safe and cushy work environment free of risk – but few consider asbestos exposure to be one of the routine hazards of the job, either. Emergency workers responding to a recent rescue call at a Colorado middle school were recently exposed to just that risk, however.
An American waste management company, ARI Technology of Kent, Washington, has announced a licensing agreement with a leading asbestos abatement and removal concern in the United Kingdom, Pectel Group. ARI has developed and patented a technology to destroy asbestos fibers (among other types of dangerous waste), making their disposal considerably safer and less expensive.
In a typical news story about a risk of asbestos exposure closing a public facility, the risk is posed by an industrial process or contamination of building supplies. This story is a little different – the area closed is a 48-square mile region of central California’s Clear Creek Management Area, and the asbestos risk is posed by the soil itself.
South African Minister for Environmental Affairs and Tourism Martinus van Schalkwyk announced on March 28, 2008, that South Africa will ban the use, manufacture, or processing of asbestos, effective immediately. The government will allow a grace period of 120 days for merchants or industrial concerns using asbestos to clear their stocks.
After a discovery of blue asbestos (also known as crocidolite) contaminating the Freewinds, a 40-year old cruise ship owned by the Church of Scientology, the ship has been sealed and cordoned off by government officials in Curacao. Dock workers conducting routine repairs discovered the presence of the deadly mineral while conducting routine drydock repairs and renovations.
On Monday, April 28, 2008 , parents at the North Kossuth Elementary School in Bancroft , Iowa , were alarmed by an announcement that the school would be closing due to asbestos contamination. The news, which was widely reported in local radio, television and print media, followed an air quality test that showed asbestos fiber levels up to 1,000 times the safe level in one hallway, and 10 times the safe levels in one classroom.
In virtually every city across the U.S. at least one building constructed prior to the 1980s is being remodeled or demolished at any given time. And as readers of Asbestos.net know, all too often the people involved in these projects attempt to cut corners where asbestos is concerned, usually costing them more in the long run.
What W.R. Grace did to Libby, Montana, James Hardie Industries did to workers all over Australia. The government of New South Wales secured a deal with Hardie to pay out some $4 billion (AUD) in compensation for asbestos in that state over the next four decades.
Denis Melody was a world champion rower and marathon runner from Cottingley in Yorkshire, U.K. Yet even if you are a devoted aficionado of such sports, chances are that unless you’re from that part of the U.K., you’ve never heard of him.
In a recent conference call with insurance industry leaders, W.R. Grace and Company President and CEO Alfred Festa and Senior Vice-president and CFO Bob Tarola announced that the company has reached an agreement to settle personal asbestos injury claims as the corporation emerges from its Chapter 11 “reorganization.”
Earlier this year, we reported on a Florida contractor that forced its employees to demolish and dispose of asbestos pipe, which was then to be dumped into a nearby retention lake. Employees who did not wish to follow these illegal orders and compromise their health were threatened, harassed, intimidated, and dismissed by company management.
When a boiler exploded in the power plant at the University of Wisconsin’s Whitewater campus, it left the entire community without heat or hot water.
Colorado often brings to mind images of majestic, rugged alpine vistas and lush conifer forests that cling to the sides of snow-covered granite peaks soaring to 10,000 feet or more.
Two vintage buildings in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, that date back to the late nineteenth century have won a stay of execution from the wrecker’s ball. Ironically, they were saved by the same substance that was meant to protect them from fire damage.
The contractor and the local community action organization are not particularly pleased about the situation, but it could be worse.
“Before all things and above all things, care must be taken of the sick, so that they will be served as if they were Christ in person.”
- St. Benedict of Nursia (CE 480–547)
W.R. Grace and Company, which is facing federal criminal charges, has gone to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), asking the justices to review pretrial issues in the government’s asbestos case. It is a loophole that could very well allow W.R. Grace and Company to avoid accountability altogether.
It seems that there is never a problem so bad that unforeseen circumstances can’t make it worse.
Although the United States of America is purportedly the wealthiest nation in the world, it also has one of the highest rates of poverty among industrial nations. Therefore, when any steps are taken to alleviate such poverty, it is cause for celebration.
Count on asbestos to crash the party.
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