Australia’s Mesothelioma Fight Comes to Television
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Australia’s Mesothelioma Fight Comes to Television

ByAlex Strauss

Australia’s ongoing mesothelioma problem will soon be the subject of a two-part television miniseries. Produced by Australia’s ABC network and starring some of the country’s most respected actors, “The Devils Dust” tells the story of mesothelioma victim Bernie Banton.  Banton was a long time employee of James Hardie, an Australian manufacturer of fiber cement building products.  For years, the company added asbestos to its cement to increase its strength and durability.  After Banton was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma in 1999, he became an advocate for mesothelioma sufferers throughout the country. Although mesothelioma cases like Banton’s are tragically common in Australia, Banton’s case was brought into the national spotlight largely because of the book “Killer Company”, by journalist Matt Peacock.  It was Peacock…

Actor’s Death Highlights Mesothelioma Risk in Australia
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Actor’s Death Highlights Mesothelioma Risk in Australia

ByAlex Strauss

An Australian film actor best known in the U.S. for playing opposite Mel Gibson in Gallipoli has died ofmesothelioma.  Harold Hopkins died in a Sydney hospital where he was receiving hospice care.  He was 67 years old. Mesothelioma is a cancer that affects the thin tissue around internal organs.  It is often considered an occupational disease, since many people come into contact with the asbestos that causes it while working in various industrial settings.  Although actors are not typically thought to be at high risk for mesothelioma, Hopkins reportedly encountered asbestos long before his acting career began.  According to Australia’s Daily Telegraph, he was exposed to asbestos as early as the 1960’s while working his first job after high school…

Study Confirms Mesothelioma Danger for Home Renovators

Study Confirms Mesothelioma Danger for Home Renovators

ByAlex Strauss

An Australian study reconfirms that performing home renovations on homes built before the 1980’s can put a person at increased risk for mesothelioma if proper precautions are not taken. Australian workers unions that have been vocal in recent months about the risk of mesothelioma to home renovators now have a published study to back them up.  Researchers from the University of Western Australia have just published a study on the incidence of malignant mesothelioma in their region and the news is not good. Using the Western Australian Mesothelioma Register, the team reviewed all cases of malignant mesothelioma diagnosed in western Australia from 1960 to the end of 2008 and determined the primary source of asbestos exposure in each case. Of the…

Rise in Mesothelioma Linked to Australian Asbestos Mine
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Rise in Mesothelioma Linked to Australian Asbestos Mine

ByAlex Strauss

The asbestos-linked cancer mesothelioma is growing at an alarming pace in part of Australia and the government is coming under fire for not doing enough to fight the source of the problem. According to a report in the Australian newspaper The Herald Sun, the number of people killed by mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases in New South Wales will soon overtake the number of people killed in car accidents. Ombudsman Bruce Barbour told the newspaper that the annual total of accident victims of 397 in NSW in 2008 would soon be “dwarfed” by the number of people dying from asbestos cancers. By 2020, the country is expected to see 13,000 cases of mesothelioma annually and 40,000 cases of other asbestos-related…

James Hardie’s Mesothelioma and Asbestos Legacy Continues
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James Hardie’s Mesothelioma and Asbestos Legacy Continues

ByAlex Strauss

Most Americans have never heard of a company called James Hardie, but to many Australians this name conjures up an enormous death toll from asbestos. It has been alleged that this company is responsible for thousands of past and future Australian deaths from mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis. Founded in Melbourne Australia in 1888 by James Hardie the company produced asbestos related products such as building products, insulation, and brake linings. In March 1987 it stopped manufacturing the asbestos containing products but, it was already too late. Mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases have a long latency period from the time of asbestos exposure to disease diagnosis. Thousands of Australians who had worked for James Hardie or had come in…