Mesothelioma & Asbestos Cancer News: January, 2009
The following is a summary of the 13 asbestos lawsuits filed in Madison County Courts between December 22 and 26, 2008:
In SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA, the validity of legislation to give federal authorities access to company documents for paying out asbestos compensation is being challenged by James Hardie.
In BELLINGHAM, WA, a burst radiator pipe over the Christmas holiday displaced 32 students from Gamma Hall at Western Washington University.
Chevron and Gulf Oil are the subject of a lawsuit filed by four brothers on behalf of their deceased father. They claim that their father contracted mesothelioma from being exposed to asbestos while working for Chevron and Gulf Oil.
A third diagnostic test for mesothelioma has been introduced by its developer, Rosetta Genomics. This new test hopes to increase the ability of doctors to rule out a diagnosis of deadly mesothelioma in patients with some form of carcinoma in the lungs.
A recent study from the Seoul National University in Korea suggests that phosphates artificially added to many processed food products could lead to the development of lung cancer. Further studies are planned to determine whether patients with specific types of lung cancer, including mesothelioma, had higher levels of daily phosphate intake before their cancer diagnosis. Researchers hope to determine whether determine whether or not high level of inorganic phosphates makes a person more susceptible to developing mesothelioma after asbestos exposure.
In COLLINSVILLE, IL, the former owner of a demolished Collinsville hotel has reached a settlement with the Illinois attorney general to pay $30,000 for improper removal of asbestos from the building in 2005.
The vermiculite form of asbestos will be the subject of a study conducted by the Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences funded by a $2.1-million award from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) examined data on causes of death to determine how asbestos-related diseases affect life span and premature mortality. The scientists concluded that asbestos related diseases do cause a significant number of years lost due to premature death.
In GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, 56 rooms in the historic Quality Central Hotel were closed after a discovery of asbestos.
City council environmental health officers conducted a routine inspection of the hotel and promptly issued a prohibition upon finding the toxin in 56 of the 222 total rooms. The health officers also found asbestos in a pipe and fire escape.
In BEAVER SPRINGS, PA, the school board has approved an asbestos removal plan necessary in order to continue with the Midd-West High School construction project.
The district began to accept bids on December 23, 2008, for the asbestos removal. After the acceptance of the bids, the board allows itself 120 days in which to make its decision.
In Melbourne, Australia, a woman diagnosed with mesothelioma has given birth to a healthy infant.
Anita Steiner was very young for a mesothelioma patient. In 2008, she was only 46 years old. Most people diagnosed with mesothelioma are much older and male. The typical mesothelioma patient is a retired construction worker who was exposed to asbestos during his career. How Steiner contracted the disease is unknown, but most mesothelioma cases result from inhalation of asbestos fibers or particles.
In ASTANA, KAZAKHSTAN, the Prime Minister, Karim Massimov, held a meeting concerning the use and production of chrysotile asbestos in the nation.
Beginning in 2001, the Texas Supreme Court allowed victims of asbestos related diseases to sue twice: once for an initial ailment such as asbestosis, and a second time for an asbestos-caused cancer such as mesothelioma.
In ONEIDA, NY, contractors finished their removal of the asbestos from the abandoned high school on Elizabeth Street on Christmas Eve 2008.
The project to remove the asbestos cost the city $260,000, and an additional $35,000 was needed to monitor the air quality during the removal. Future plans for the deconstruction of the building were not made known to the public following the announcement of the asbestos removal completion.
At Soldiers Home, a veteran’s hospice facility in Holyoke, Massachusetts, the superintendent of 10 years was indicted for overseeing the improper and unsafe removal of asbestos.
A grant of $3 million was awarded to begin the revitalization of the Fiberglas tower in Toledo, Ohio, starting with removing the deadly asbestos inside.
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A former marine machinist, Robert “Bobby” Hilt of Vallejo, California, won $7.5 million in a mesothelioma lawsuit, which is one of the highest settlements for a patient as old as the 64-year-old Hilt in California courts’ history.
Bobby Hilt was diagnosed with mesothelioma earlier in 2008, nearly a year from his trial.
An English woman is in mesothelioma remission two years after being diagnosed and given merely six to nine months to live.
In CHRISTCHURCH, NZ, contractors converting the New Zealand Post’s headquarters into the new city council offices released a cloud of dust into the air, which prompted the evacuation of the building.
In violation of environmental regulations surrounding the handling of asbestos, a Shrewsbury, MA, roofing company was ordered to pay a fine of $46,412.50 to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The company seeks to appeal that decision.
The Texas Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that would have allowed a Maine man to sue 21 Texas companies for causing his mesothelioma through asbestos exposure.
In MALAYSIA, cement piping containing asbestos in Penang will be replaced to solve the problems of constant water disruptions. The project began in 2006 under the direction of Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang (PBAPP) Sdn Bhd, which has undertaken the task of changing the asbestos pipes for those made of ductile iron. A completion date of 12 years from the start of the replacement has been projected.
After an apparent recent drop in the number of filings of asbestos cases between 2003 and 2006, asbestos cases are once again on the rise in Madison County, IL.
For the first time, researchers are examining how asbestos particles bond to human cells to lead to cancer. This study could lead to drugs to more effectively treat asbestos-related diseases such as the nearly always fatal mesothelioma.
In ELLENSBURG, WA, for the first time in ten years, Dean Hall at Central Washington University opened its doors to students in an opening ceremony on December 4, 2008.
Registration for the 2009 Asbestos Awareness Day Conference opened December 11, 2008.
The conference is scheduled from March 27-29, 2009 in Manhattan Beach, California. Attendees are expected to be similar to the demographic of the past four conferences, which included those affected by asbestos-related illnesses, medical professionals, scientists, and industry experts.
The Washington state Supreme Court decided in two separate asbestos cases that one product maker cannot be held liable for the asbestos hazards of another product.
A pair of men who once worked aboard Navy vessels filed a lawsuit, each against a manufacturer of a product for the asbestos exposure from another product, which they claimed could not be avoided.
The one-man Chief Financial Officer, President, and Corporate Secretary of Alfacell, Lawrence Kenyon, has resigned his posts from Alfacell. He plans to remain on the board and continue as the acting CFO, president, and corporate secretary until a replacement can be made after January 31, 2009.
Fifteen years after it has been closed, the Vermont Asbestos Group Mine in Eden and Lowell still raises concerns from nearby Vermont residents about asbestos contamination.
Four soldiers in the 82nd Airborne from Fort Bragg in North Carolina are being monitored for asbestos exposure after they were ordered to pull up supply room tiles laden with asbestos without protective gear or training to preserve their health.
In a hotly contested debate over whether or not a man dying of mesothelioma will have to have an autopsy, a judge has issued a ruling to protect the man after his death.
ONCONASE, a drug to treat mesothelioma and other cancers, is scheduled at the end of January 2009 to be the subject of a pre-NDA (New Drug Application) meeting of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is a critical step to be taken before the drug’s manufacturer, Alfacell, can complete its New Drug Application. The intention of the pre-NDA meeting will be for the FDA to give ideas to Alfacell to finish its application. Whether or not the drug will be approved cannot be contested until after the finalized NDA is submitted.
In NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA, a new “Lung Bus” to assist in the early detection of lung ailments at work sites is planned to begin its services in the second half of 2009.
A clinical trial is looking for sufferers of mesothelioma to examine the effects of a combination chemotherapy treatment in post-surgery pleural mesothelioma patients. The trials will be conducted by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Massachusetts.
In ONEIDA, NY, an asbestos abatement project in the old Elizabeth Street junior high school will be completed by November 11, 2008, 8 to 10 months after it began, and then the deconstruction of the building will take place.
A new theatrical production in Williamstown, Australia, showcases mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases with a heavy dose of black humor.
Exxon is facing a unique lawsuit for being negligent in causing an electrician’s death after the man contracted mesothelioma from working around the asbestos on Exxon ships in a Newport News, Virginia, shipyard.
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