Mesothelioma Risk Still Exists After 9/11
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Mesothelioma Risk Still Exists After 9/11

ByAlex Strauss

A decade after the attack on the World Trade Centers, health officials are bracing for latent health effects such as mesothelioma among the tens of thousands of people exposed to toxic dust at the scene. The collapse of the World Trade Centers in 2001 released huge clouds of dust and spread high levels of airborne pollutants across Manhattan and part of Brooklyn, New York.  Asbestos fibers, which causes mesothelioma, was one of the pollutants released.  Malignant mesothelioma is a disease in which a cancer grows on the mesothelium, the membrane that forms the lining of several body cavities. An estimated 60,000 to 70,000 responders suffered the most concentrated exposure, but thousands of other people who were just in the area at the…

Genetic Mutation Linked to Mesothelioma
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Genetic Mutation Linked to Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Medical science may finally be a step closer to understanding why some people exposed to asbestos contract malignant mesothelioma and others do not. A new study funded by the National Cancer Institute and conducted by researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia and the University of Hawaii Cancer Center has found that people who have a genetic mutation on their BAP1 gene are more susceptible to mesothelioma and several other types of cancer. The study, published in a recent issue of Nature Genetics, followed two families that have an unusually high incidence of mesothelioma, which is typically very rare. In the U.S., mesothelioma affects fewer than 3,000 people each year. This, despite the fact that tens of thousands of…

GM Mesothelioma Claims May Rise
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GM Mesothelioma Claims May Rise

ByAlex Strauss

Creditors of the bankrupt remains of General Motors have won the right to estimate just how much the company could have to pay out to mesothelioma victims in the coming years. Like many car manufacturers, GM used asbestos as part of the brake linings in its vehicles for years.  This encapsulated asbestos poses a serious health hazard, including the potential for malignant mesothelioma, to anyone who disturbs it by working on those brakes.  Because brake work can release deadly asbestos dust into the air where it can be easily inhaled, auto mechanics are at risk for asbestos-related diseases, including not only mesothelioma, but also asbestosis and lung cancer. Because of this danger, GM is no stranger to asbestos-related lawsuits and mesothelioma claims. …

Mesothelioma Verdicts Highlight the Asbestos Danger
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Mesothelioma Verdicts Highlight the Asbestos Danger

ByAlex Strauss

Some large mesothelioma settlements this summer have resulted in more $25 million for victims of the disease from coast to coast. In New Orleans, former shipyard worker Leopold Granier, Jr. won his $1.5 million suit against Union Carbide, Avondale Shipyards and Cajun Insulation, alleging that the companies were negligent in allowing his exposure to cancer-causing asbestos.  Granier worked at the Avondale shipyard, which was once the largest employer in the state of Louisiana.  The jury found that the companies named in the suit produced products that were a “substantial and contributing cause” of Granier’s mesothelioma.  The shipyard is slated to close in 2013 because of reduced business from the Navy. In San Diego, a 70-year old Navy veteran won a $2.4 million…

Mesothelioma Insurance Claims on the Rise
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Mesothelioma Insurance Claims on the Rise

ByAlex Strauss

Insurance companies are seeing a rise in asbestos and mesothelioma insurance claims – even though the incidence of the disease has been gradually slowing. The Reuters News Agency is reporting that two major insurers – Hartford Financial and American International Group, Inc. (AIG) – have recently had to dramatically increase the amount of money they are holding in reserve for mesothelioma and other asbestos cases because of a higher number of claims in recent years.  The shift in funds meant a $290 million shortfall in earnings for Hartford Financial, making investors nervous about the company’s stability.  AIG worried its shareholders by moving $4.1 billion into its reserve fund. For decades before the link to mesothelioma and other illnesses was made known, asbestos…

Defense Department Combats Mesothelioma
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Defense Department Combats Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

The U.S. Department of Defense is stepping up its efforts to combat the threat of mesothelioma cancer among veterans.  For the fourth consecutive year, the DOD has agreed to provide grant funding to researchers exploring the causes and possible treatments for malignant mesothelioma, a disease triggered almost exclusively by exposure to asbestos. Because as many as a third of the approximately 2,500 cases of the disease reported annually in the U.S. occur among veterans, mesothelioma has been designated by the DOD since 2008 as an eligible disease under the Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP).  This year, the program will provide $16 million in grants for the study of a range of cancers, including colorectal, bladder, kidney, pancreatic, mesothelioma and others.  The…

CT Accuracy May Vary for Mesothelioma
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CT Accuracy May Vary for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A group of French doctors has a warning for people exposed to asbestos and concerned about the possibility of mesothelioma: watch out for false positive CT results. Their new meta-analysis of current radiological techniques found that there is a wide margin in the way CT results are interpreted in cases of cancer in the lungs and chest including mesothelioma. The study may have important implications for mesothelioma, where early, accurate diagnosis is critical. CT (computed tomography) and the newer high-resolution volume CT (HR-VCT) which takes multiple two-dimensional images, are among the most popular imaging modalities for diagnosing and staging malignant pleural mesothelioma. According to the researchers who conducted the study, part of the problem is the lack of specific training in…

Employer ‘Duty-Bound’ to Protect Families from Mesothelioma
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Employer ‘Duty-Bound’ to Protect Families from Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

People who contract mesothelioma or other asbestos diseases because of second hand exposure to asbestos through a company’s employee, have a right to hold the company accountable. An appellate court in Illinois made the decision after hearing the case of a woman who got mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer, after years of washing her husband’s contaminated work clothes. Annette Simpkins brought suit against the CSX Corporation, claiming that she got sick because of repeatedly handling the toxic fibers while doing laundry. Her husband, Robert Simpkins, was a steelworker, welder, railroad fireman and laborer for CSX’s predecessor, B & O Railroad.  When Annette Simpkins died in April 2007, her daughter Cynthia took over as plaintiff. The mineral asbestos, used for…

Wall Covering May Prevent Mesothelioma
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Wall Covering May Prevent Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A British company has developed a way to help protect construction workers and building occupants from the threat of mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos.  Birmingham, England-based Datatecnics has released the world’s first asbestos-sensing film.  When walls containing asbestos are papered with the polymer, an alarm will sound if the film is breached. In an interview with Electronics Weekly, Datatecnics CEO Mohammed Zulfiquar explains, “Asbestos is in a lot of public buildings. The Government estimates that 70 percent of UK schools contain it and the guidance from the Health and Safety Executive is to manage most of it, not remove it.” Asbestos has long been linked to mesothelioma, a malignancy affecting the membranous tissue encasing internal organs.  Asbestos was once commonly…

Tornado Aftermath: Possible Mesothelioma Risk
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Tornado Aftermath: Possible Mesothelioma Risk

ByAlex Strauss

Environmental officials are warning that this spring’s rash of severe weather across the Midwest and South could raise the risk of asbestos exposure, mesothelioma and other lung conditions among people involved in the cleanup. Mesothelioma is the rarest of a range of illnesses that can be triggered by exposure to asbestos fibers.  Asbestos was a common component in wall, pipe and attic insulation, roof products, floor tiles, acoustical ceiling tiles, joint compounds, drywall and even paints – especially in homes built before the 1970’s.   Insulation containing asbestos was sold until 1990.  Once asbestos is disturbed and the fibers become airborne, anyone in the vicinity is at greater risk for asbestos caused diseases like mesothelioma. After the dangers of asbestos exposure came to…