Mesothelioma News
Exposure to ultramafic rock may cause mesothelioma
According to a study by researchers at the University of California-Davis, everyday exposure to naturally occurring asbestos raises the risk of developing mesothelioma. The study is due for publication this fall in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Groups opposed to Senate asbestos bill
A number of business and consumer groups met in Washington, D.C., to voice their opposition to a Senate bill that would create a $140 billion trust fund to compensate victims of asbestos-related diseases. The group said that the bill—S. 852, the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2005—favors the interests of big businesses over victims and would hurt many smaller companies affected by the bill.
Free health screenings offered for NJ asbestos contamination
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has announced that it will offer free health screenings to former workers at the W.R. Grace asbestos processing plant in Hamilton, New Jersey. The ATSDR says that screenings will also be offered to workers’ family members who may have been exposed to asbestos fibers brought into their homes from the plant.
Limit needed on asbestos lawsuits, Bush says
President George W. Bush, wading into a decades-long debate, has called for a cap on asbestos lawsuits. He contends that too many frivolous cases have clogged the courts, unjustly bankrupted companies and kept legitimate victims of asbestos from getting compensation they deserve.
Mother lode of asbestos in California now shuttered
For many years, the Union Carbide mill near King City, California could scarcely keep up with the high demand for Calidria asbestos. The company mined asbestos from the Diablo Mountains after discovering a mother lode so huge that it would not be exhausted for 4,000 years. The site, a mountain that is 40–50% asbestos, remains the world’s largest source of raw asbestos. Every day for more than four decades, the 400-plus men and women who worked at the mill, as well as the 11,000 residents of King City, were exposed to the asbestos.
British study says mesothelioma deaths will rise until 2015
A study by Britain’s Health and Safety Commission (HSC) estimates that mesothelioma deaths in that country will continue to rise for the next 10 years and will not return to levels similar to those seen 40 years ago until 2050. According to the study, there will be between 2,200 and 2,760 mesothelioma deaths every year from 2011 until 2015.
Secondary asbestos exposure seen as cause of Maryland woman?s death
According to a report in the Atlanta Constitution-Journal, Georgia-Pacific continued to sell joint compounds laden with asbestos in the 1960s and 1970s although its leaders understood the serious health problems caused by asbestos. The company also told consumers that the joint compound in question, Ready-Mix, was safe—even as it knew that the government was preparing to ban such products due to their danger.
Study shows somewhat good news about new mesothelioma drug pemetrexed
Researchers who conducted the largest phase 3 trial to date for mesothelioma have reported results showing that patients on a new chemotherapy drug regimen live longer and have less pain than those on an older drug. The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando, Florida on May 20, 2002.
Owens Corning files for bankruptcy due to mesothelioma lawsuits
Building materials company Owens Corning has announced that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to the unknown number of mesothelioma lawsuits it will face in the future. The company had hoped to avoid bankruptcy by settling out of court with plaintiffs in its current mesothelioma lawsuits. But it said that the cost of settling current and future lawsuits made Chapter 11 its only option.