New York (NY) Asbestos And Mesothelioma General, Medical, & Legal Resources

Last Updated: August 22nd, 2008

New York (NY) Asbestos Resources & Information:

From 1979 to 1999, most of the asbestos-related deaths in the Empire State were in the working-class borough of Queens, with 228 being from mesothelioma and 62 from asbestosis. In contrast, in the nearby borough of Bronx, there were only 69 and 24 respectively. Part of this is due to population; the population of Queens is about 1/3 larger than that of its neighboring borough. Queens is also more industrialized, and it is industrial occupations that run the highest risk of asbestos exposure.

In New York State as a whole, there are nearly 400 jobsites, public buildings and institutions at which asbestos exposure has been an issue. Although the high-risk industries--shipyards, power generation plants, oil refineries and chemical companies--are certainly well represented, the list includes nearly everything else: schools, public housing units, sewage treatment plants, office facilities, churches and synagogues, and even restaurants and food preparation companies.

Before going into some of the details of these, however, it is worth looking at the Empire State's naturally-occurring asbestos as well as a mining operation at which workers have been suffering unusually high rates of asbestos-related disease and non-industrial accidents resulting in asbestos exposure.

The Talc Mines

In 2007, there was an asbestos scare in Connecticut schools over clay that contained talc contaminated with asbestos fibers being used in art classes. While administrators attempted to assuage fears by stating that asbestos amounts in said clay were negligible, it should be noted that until 1981, Jefferson County, one of two areas in northeastern New York state in which talc is mined, had one of the highest rates of mesothelioma in the nation.

This corresponds with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry asbestos map, which places one of New York state's naturally-occurring asbestos deposits within Jefferson County in the vicinity of Governeur. The other two, which were the sites of mining operations, are located further east near the Vermont state line.

Accidental and Other Non-Industrial Exposure

The asbestos fallout resulting from the collapse of the World Trade Center has been covered extensively elsewhere. Suffice it to say here that over 5,000 tons of the W.R. Grace & Company product Monokote was used on the iron framework, and possibly more. Asbestos fibers rained down on Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn in the days that followed, and there continue to be elevated respiratory problems to this day.

Another problem that is ongoing is that of aging underground steam pipes, insulated with asbestos, that finally explode. This happened in Manhattan during the summer of 2007 as well as in Boston the following September; it has in fact happened a number of times in major cities over the past twenty years as corporate tax loopholes cause government revenues to dry up, with aging infrastructure not being maintained properly often the result.

Why So Many Non-Industrial Buildings?

New York City was arguably the birthplace of the modern American asbestos industry. Although the substance had been used for centuries, it was Henry Ward Johns, founder of what later became Johns-Manville, who started developing and marketing asbestos building materials in Manhattan just prior to the U.S. Civil War.

As a result, a huge number of old and historic buildings in the Mid-Atlantic and New England States have required extensive asbestos abatement. A 1988 EPA estimate suggested that at the time, there were perhaps as many as 500,000 public buildings nationwide in which asbestos may have been a problem.

Although asbestos abatement has become a major industry and such projects are undertaken on a regular basis, progress is slow; asbestos continues to be discovered in these buildings on a regular basis.

'New York (NY) Asbestos, Asbestos Cancer & Mesothelioma General Resources'
  1. Bowker, Michael. Fatal Deception: The Terrifying True Story of How Asbestos is Killing America. New York: Touchstone, 2003.
  2. Clapper, Jack. "Asbestos Warning in Connecticut Schools." Asbestos Cancer News, 4 Oct. 2007.
  3. Evans, David and Greg Johnstone. "Asbestos Use Companies and Locations in New York." All About Malignant Mesothelioma, September 2005.
    Accessed: 26 October 2007.
  4. Geological Research, Analyses and Services Programs. "Naturally Occurring Asbestos Locations in the Contiguous U.S. and Alaska." Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 25 May 2007.
    Accessed: 19 October 2007.
  5. Hull, Mindy J. et al. "Mesothelioma among Workers in Asbestiform Fiberbearing
    Talc Mines in New York State." Annals of Occupational Hygiene 46, Supplement 1 (Oxford University Press, 2002): 132-135.
  6. Newman, Andy. "EPA Is Urged to Widen Focus on 9/11 Health Effects." New York Times, 24 April 2007.
  7. Shabecoff, Philip. "EPA Surveys Asbestos in Buildings." New York Times, 1 March 1988.

 

Asbestos Danger: New York (NY) Job Sites

Over the course of the last century, hundreds of thousands of workers were exposed to asbestos while on the job – and for the most part, they were not warned. Below is a list of Job sites covered on Asbestos.net from the state of New York (NY) where workers were potentially and unnecessarily put at risk:

 

New York (NY) Asbestos & Mesothelioma Doctors

The diagnosis and treatment of asbestos-related cancers and other diseases is gradually becoming a sub-specialty in the field of medicine all its own. However, as of the present time, there is no medical degree that is specific to asbestos-related practice.

Most doctors focusing on asbestos disease today are trained in oncology, thoracic surgery, respiratory or occupational medicine, or some related field. Below is a list of doctors in New York (NY) that specialize in some form of asbestos cancer or mesothelioma treatment and the institution they are currently affiliated with:

 

New York (NY) Asbestos & Mesothelioma Treatment Centers

Today, between 25 and 30% of all Americans will get some form of cancer during their lifetimes. There are many reasons for this, including the modern lifestyle and the poisons that have been put into the environment – of which asbestos is a prime example.

The number of clinics and hospitals that specialize in oncology have increased in response to the growing number of patients. Below is a list of the cancer treatment centers located in New York (NY) that we feature on Asbestos.net:

 

Clinical Trials Serving New York (NY):

A clinical trial is when new medications and treatments are tested on human subjects. Participation in such studies can entail some risks, but for some who are facing an invariably fatal disease, they also represent an opportunity – not only for personal relief, but to serve the greater good in the advancement of medical knowledge.

Below is a list of clinical trials with locations in New York (NY):

New York (NY) Legal Resources: Asbestos, Asbestos Cancer & Mesothelioma

A search through the New York Federal District Court Cases for asbestos-related personal injury product liability lawsuits brings up an extensive list of more than forty cases from 2006 and 2007. Some of these cases are issues such as petitions for removal from asbestos litigation or federal questions regarding asbestos being answered by the New York Court. However, many of these cases are personal injury lawsuits brought by individuals affected by asbestos-related disease.

New York is ranked fourth in the U.S. for mesothelioma cases. With a mesothelioma mortality rate of 10.79 per million, New York has a crude mortality rank of 32 in the country.

In 2003, a key New York asbestos case was settled. A New York jury awarded more than $47 million to a boilermaker who worked as a contractor for Consolidated Edison Inc. and the KeySpan Corp. unit of Long Island Lighting Co. The man was diagnosed with mesothelioma in May, 2001. The jury found the two New York utility companies negligent both in their actions and in their failure to advise workers of asbestos's dangers.

In the 2005 case Seitz v. Jacobson & Company, an appeals court in New York overturned a ruling by a Workers' Compensation Board Panel. The panel had determined that an asbestos claimant did not file a timely appeal, but the appeals court found instead that the Panel had overlooked an extension the plaintiff was granted in which to file the appeal. The court reversed the Panel's dismissal of the claims, and sent the case back to the Panel to determine whether the right to death benefits ceased with the death of the victim's surviving spouse. The case stemmed from John Seitz, a sheet metal worker who claimed to have developed metastatic small cell anaplastic lung cancer after being exposed to asbestos in his workplace. After Seitz died, his widow filed a workers' compensation claim. Seitz's wife also passed away before the case was decided, and the judge closed the case. The case was reopened on behalf of the estate of the sheet metal worker. The case opened the question of whether a claim could still be made even after the widow had passed away.

Those interested in filing lawsuits should know that the statute of limitations for personal injury law in New York is three years, with a discovery rule for toxic exposure that states that this amount of time begins when the problem (in this case the mesothelioma) either was discovered or should have been discovered. Wrongful death cases in the state have a two-year statute of limitations, with the time beginning at the date of death. While New York has no specific statute concerning asbestos product personal injury suits, according to the state's Workers' Compensation Law 3, compensation is payable for injuries or death incurred by employees who are involved in the manufacture of asbestos.

'New York (NY) Asbestos, Asbestos Cancer & Mesothelioma Legal Resources' Sources:
  1. Statutes of Limitations. "New York Statutes of Limitations".
    Accessed: 26 July 2007
  2. Laws of New York. "Consolidated Law: Workers' Compensation Law § 3".
    Accessed: 31 July 2007
  3. Justia.com Federal District Court Filings & Dockets. "New York Federal District Court".
    Accessed: 30 July 2007
  4. Legal News Watch. "$47M Awarded in Asbestos Related Mesothelioma Lawsuit".
    Accessed: 3 August 2007
  5. Weitz & Luxenberg. "New York Mesothelioma Lawsuit Lawyer/Attorney: Statistics in NY State".
    Accessed: 3 August 2007
  6. Workers' Comensation. "Court Finds Appeal Timely, Claims Remanded for Determination of Death Benefits ".
    Accessed: 3 August 2007