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Mesothelioma Lawsuit News

Mesothelioma Lawsuits Against Garlock May Require Immediate Action

Mesothelioma Lawsuits

Mesothelioma Lawsuits

Thousands of individuals who claim their mesothelioma diagnosis was caused by asbestos products manufactured by Garlock Sealing Technologies may only have a few weeks to provide information about their illness so they can get their settlement.

According to Dow Jones Newswires, as part of Garlock’s current bankruptcy proceedings, the company is requesting that the nearly 4,000 people with a pending asbestos lawsuit against it provide information about their mesothelioma claims by February 28,2012. The company claims it needs this information so it can accurately set up a trust that will hold money for the mesothelioma settlements that it will be dealing with in the future.

Under the company’s current bankruptcy plan, which is still subject to court approval, Garlock will be able to settle all current allowed asbestos claims and put $140 million into the asbestos trust to handle future claims. Claimants who do not bring forward information by the deadline could have their cases dismissed.

Setting up monetary trusts for mesothelioma settlements has become the norm for manufacturing companies that used asbestos and have been forced out of business due to the mesothelioma lawsuits brought against them.

If you or a loved one have developed mesothelioma that can be linked toasbestos exposure that was caused by a product or former employer, call American Law Partners today to learn more about potentially pursuing amesothelioma lawsuit.

Mesothelioma Clinical Trials: An Overview

Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma clinical trials are medical research studies used to test new mesothelioma treatments to see how they affect people. Clinical trial proceed in several stages. What follows is a brief overview of Phase III and IV trials.

Phase III clinical trials for mesothelioma compare the safety and effectiveness of the new treatment against the current standard treatment. Drug treatments that have been proven relatively safe in phase I and that work against mesothelioma in phase II studies can advance to the third stage of testing.

Phase III clinical trials typically enroll a large number of patients, at least several hundred. These studies are often done in many different locations at the same time. Phase III studies are often randomized and double-blinded. What that means is that patients are chosen at random to get either the standard treatment or the new treatment and neither the patient nor the doctor knows which treatment the patient is getting. Placebos are sometimes used in phase III studies but not alone if there is already a treatment available that works.

Phase IV Clinical Trials for Mesothelioma

Phase IV studies are a comprehensive Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review. The treatment is delivered along with a new drug application for approval. The FDA will review the results from the studies conducted in the first four phases and ask questions, order more tests, or simply approve the new drug. The approval of the new drug can be stalled by up to five additional years if more tests are required.

But if the FDA approves the drug in this phase, it becomes the new standard of care which all newer drugs must test against before being approved for use.

For more information on mesothelioma clinical trials and their phases, visit the American Cancer Society.

If you would like to take part in a mesothelioma clinical trial, start by asking your doctor if your clinic or hospital conducts any. ACS has a “clinical trials matching service” available online. You can also get a list of current clinical trials by visiting the National Cancer Institute’s clinical trials Web site at www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials.

Contact American Law Partners about filing a mesothelioma lawsuit that may result in a mesothelioma settlement that could help you and your family get in-home medical care and pay off medical bills, debts, and other expenses.

Use of Asbestos Wood Chips in Libby Disturbs Montana Senator Baucus

In light of recent reports that there are bark and wood chip products that are contaminated with asbestos, yet being sold in Libby, Montana as well as many other areas, state Senator Max Baucus is stepping in to look for some answers.

The Associated Press recently reported that the Environmental Protection Agency has known for at least three years that wood chips that were contaminated with asbestos fibers had been used in yards, city parks, schools, and other public places throughout Libby. Despite the agency’s being aware that dangerous asbestos fibers were being placed throughout the city, they did not step in to stop its usage until the AP launched an investigation on the matter.

In a press release posted on his website Wednesday, Baucus pledged his continued support to help the town of Libby, which has been plagued by asbestos issues caused by a now-defunct W.R. Grace vermiculite mining site for decades now.

“We’ve made tremendous strides in the effort to help Libby heal with health care and environmental cleanup. But trust is essential to Libby’s ability to heal psychologically and economically,” Baucus said. “Now it appears EPA’s actions may have put that trust in jeopardy, so you can bet I’ll be holding EPA’s feet to the fire to find out exactly what they knew, when they knew it, and whether action is needed to ensure the safety of folks in Libby and across the country who were exposed to this bark.”

Baucus added that Libby’s residents had been “poisoned in the name of greed” and that he would work to pass along any safety information to the town residents and “move forward and create jobs with faith in the agencies and processes that are supposed to protect them.”

The town of Libby has become the synonymous with the increased risk of developing mesothelioma that asbestos exposure can pose. For those who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer that can be linked to asbestos exposure caused by a product or former employer, you may be entitled to financial compensation.

Contact an experienced mesothelioma attorney to learn more about your rights, and to see if pursuing a mesothelioma settlement is in your best interest.

Wall Covering Prevents Asbestos Exposure

Because the use of asbestos is still not banned in the United States, there is always a risk that the building you are in may still contain some products that contain the deadly fiber in its walls. However, a British company has developed a new device that could be used in American buildings to reduce the risk of asbestos exposure until the fiber’s use is one day banned.

Datatecnics, a Birmingham, England-based company, has developed a special type of wall covering that is designed to detect small asbestos particles and prevent them from getting through to an area where people are located. The ADAAS (Asbestos Disturbance Automated Alert System) polymer film is also designed to trigger an alarm if it is breached in any way.

 The company touts the ASAAS film as a way to eliminate older forms of asbestos testing and monitoring while also being more cost effective. The film can either be painted or papered over asbestos products.

“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,” Mohammad Zulfiquar, Datatecnics’ CEO, recently told Electronics Weekly.

While the company is still looking for investors before any widespread launch of the product, its mere existence could be a sign of good things to come in regard to the prevention of asbestos exposure in the years to come.

For those who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer that can be linked to asbestos exposure caused by a product or former employer, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Contact an experienced mesothelioma attorney to learn more about your rights, and to see if pursuing a mesothelioma settlement is in your best interest.

Wall Covering Prevents Asbestos Exposure

Because the use of asbestos is still not banned in the United States, there is always a risk that the building you are in may still contain some products that contain the deadly fiber in its walls. However, a British company has developed a new device that could be used in American buildings to reduce the risk of asbestos exposure until the fiber’s use is one day banned.

Datatecnics, a Birmingham, England-based company, has developed a special type of wall covering that is designed to detect small asbestos particles and prevent them from getting through to an area where people are located. The ADAAS (Asbestos Disturbance Automated Alert System) polymer film is also designed to trigger an alarm if it is breached in any way.

 The company touts the ASAAS film as a way to eliminate older forms of asbestos testing and monitoring while also being more cost effective. The film can either be painted or papered over asbestos products.

“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,” Mohammad Zulfiquar, Datatecnics’ CEO, recently told Electronics Weekly.

While the company is still looking for investors before any widespread launch of the product, its mere existence could be a sign of good things to come in regard to the prevention of asbestos exposure in the years to come.

For those who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer that can be linked to asbestos exposure caused by a product or former employer, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Contact an experienced mesothelioma attorney to learn more about your rights, and to see if pursuing a mesothelioma settlement is in your best interest.

Thetford Asbestos Mine in Canada May Close

Amid a labor dispute and continued debate regarding the asbestos industry as a whole, the only fully operational asbestos mine in Canada is sending out reports saying it may soon be closing its doors.

The Quebec-based LAB Chrysotile announced on Tuesday that it may soon shut down operations at its Thetford Mines in the city of Asbestos if a labor conflict with the workers’ union is not resolved.

 “We’ve given ourselves 16 weeks to deal with our problems,” Mine President Simon Dupere told The Canadian Press in a telephone interview.

Despite the issues the mine is dealing with, Dupere added that he was still “very confident” that there was a market for chrysotile asbestos.

Because the Jeffrey Mine, which is also located in Asbestos, is only functional for part of the year, the Thetford Mine is considered Canada’s only fully-operational asbestos mine. It currently employs 350 people, according to Canadian Business.

In addition to its labor issues, the Thetford Mine is also dealing with a great deal of scrutiny as the Canadian asbestos industry continues to draw a great deal of negative attention from around the world. The closing of the Thetford Mine would likely only increase the calls for Canada to do away with its asbestos mining industry.

If you or a loved one has been exposed to asbestos by using certain products or working for certain companies and have subsequently been diagnosed with mesothelioma, there may be legal options worth pursuing to obtain a mesothelioma settlement.

Contact a mesothelioma attorney if you have any questions about the details ofasbestos law and what is needed to pursue a settlement from the manufacturer of the asbestos product.

Illinois Courts Reversing Asbestos Lawsuit Rulings?

Illinois may be in the midst of change regarding the way asbestos and mesothelioma lawsuits are ruled upon by judges, as a recent verdict reversal may signal that more strict criteria is on the horizon.

Noting what could be the beginning of a trend in Illinois, a recent Forbes articleexamined a state appeals court ruling that overturned a $2.5 million jury verdict against Honeywell and Pneumo Abex. The settlement had been awarded to a woman who claimed her mesothelioma had been caused by asbestos fibers that were tracked into her house by her husband, a worker at Union Rubber & Asbestos Co. in the 1950s.

 However, because Union Rubber & Asbestos has long since gone out of business and could not be sued, Pneumo Abex and Honeywell were made the basis of the lawsuit because they were part of the same “trade group.” Much like Union Rubber, both Pneumo Abex and Honeywell had made asbestos brake shoes.

While a definitive link between the woman’s mesothelioma and either of the companies could not be found, state laws allowed for a judgment in the woman’s favor by finding both companies guilty of civil conspiracy. The ruling implied that both companies had allowed for asbestos use to continue – along with many other companies in the same trade group - by acting in “parallel conduct” with the company at fault, and therefore could be held accountable for the illness as a result.

However, that ruling turned out to be short-lived. The state appeals court recently threw out the case after deciding that the companies did not know in the 1950s that workers could carry asbestos fibers home on their clothes and therefore could not have committed a civil conspiracy.

Since that decision, other asbestos lawsuit rulings have been brought up for review that could potentially be reversed as well. Furthermore, any precedent set in Illinois could potentially have implications on mesothelioma lawsuits across the country that are brought by individuals who were exposed to asbestos by companies that were aware of the danger. Hopefully, whatever the implications, mesothelioma victims will still get the justice in court they deserve against asbestos companies that harmed them.

If you or a loved one has been exposed to asbestos by using certain products or working for certain companies and have subsequently been diagnosed with mesothelioma, there may be legal options worth pursuing to obtain a mesothelioma settlement. Contact a mesothelioma attorney if you have any questions about the details of asbestos law and what is needed to pursue a settlement from the manufacturer of the asbestos product.

Films Hope to Raise Asbestos, Mesothelioma Lawsuit Awareness

One of the more heartbreaking aspects of mesothelioma and asbestos cancer is that, despite the devastation that the diseases take on the families they effect, the public is largely not aware of the illnesses and the toll they take.

Thankfully, a pair of new films are attempting to raise awareness regarding the dangers of the asbestos industry and the legal options that individuals have to punish the companies that have harmed them.  The films are already gaining a great deal of attention across the country.

 In an attempt to raise awareness regarding the horrors of asbestos, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) announced last month that it would be hosting an international livestreaming of the film Breathless on its website on September 26 at 6:30 pm EST. The film, which was directed by Canadian filmmaker Kathleen Mullen, details the death of Mullens’ father that was caused by asbestos exposure in Canadian mines while also addressing the controversy surrounding the Canadian asbestos industry.

“ADAO is thrilled to be able to bring this critical issue to the forefront through the incredible film, Breathtaking. It is through the new avenues of digital technology and social media that we are seeing awareness about asbestos hazards expand rapidly around the globe,” said ADAO Co-Founder Linda Reinstein.

The film will precede a fifteen-minute question and answer session via Twitter with Mullen and Reinstein.

Another film, Hot Coffee, recently premiered on HBO as part of the network’s Summer Documentary Series. The movie looks at American civil justice and tells the story of Stella Liebeck, an elderly woman who sued McDonald’s for money to cover medical costs after the restaurant’s coffee severely burned her. Despite the uproar over the product liability lawsuit filed by Lieback, the film supports the legal action she took.

Many mesothelioma support groups have come out in support of the film, asmesothelioma lawsuits are similar in many ways to the case filed by Liebeck and have come under fire in recent years as well.

Hopefully Breathtaking and Hot Coffee will both help to increase the public’s awareness regarding asbestos and mesothelioma lawsuits.

If you or a loved one has been exposed to asbestos by using certain products or working for certain companies and have subsequently been diagnosed with mesothelioma, there may be legal options worth pursuing to obtain a mesothelioma settlement. Contact a mesothelioma attorney if you have any questions about the details of asbestos law and what is needed to pursue a settlement from the manufacturer of the asbestos product.

New Study Reveals Increased Cancer Risk for 9/11 First Responders

As the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy approaches, a newly published study offers hints of a possible link between exposure to chemicals released after New York’s World Trade Center collapsed and the development of cancer in firefighters who toiled at ground zero.

The New York Times reports that the study, released in the British medical journal The Lancet, reveals that 9/11 firefighters are 19 percent more likely to develop cancer than those who were not at the Trade Center wreckage.

 Although the study’s leader, Dr. David J. Prezant, asserts its findings are far from conclusive, he acknowledges that they indicate an “increased likelihood for the development of any type of cancer.”

Included in the toxic substances found at the site of the New York 9/11 attacks are asbestos and jet fuel, both of which can cause diseases such as mesothelioma that may take up to 50 years to develop. Given the relatively short amount of time that this study is considering, the findings are but a beginning interpretation of the actual effects.

After the Twin Towers collapsed, an area of several square miles was covered by a cloud of fine powder. As reported in a study released by the Virginia firm HP Environmental in the weeks after the terrorist attacks, the powder creating this toxic cloud contained large quantities of asbestos. In fact, the asbestos particles were so pulverized in the explosion that the majority of them were smaller than what could be detected by the EPA’s standard testing method. After adjusting the test to check smaller fiber concentrations, the study concluded that there was an “overwhelming concentration” of the ultrafine asbestos particles.

“Responders were exposed to a whole soup of carcinogens,” says Dr. Philip J. Landrigan of the 9/11 first responders, who included firefighters, police, and other emergency personnel. Dr. Landrigan is the director of environmental and occupational medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan and a leading expert on asbestos toxicity. He is also the principal investigator of a related report published inThe Lancet on the health effects of the attacks on recovery and rescue workers.

“The smaller the [asbestos] particle, the more easily it can be aerosolized. And the easier job that it has penetrating right down into the very depths of the lungs,“ Dr. Landrigan told the Times. He adds that the new findings are but a signal of the results likley  to come in the years ahead.

However, Dr. James Melius, administrator of the New York State Laborers’ Health and Safety Trust Fund and one of the peer reviewers of the firefighter study, warns that it ”would probably not be enough to persuade federal officials to include cancer as one of the diseases covered under the Zadroga Act.”

The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 (H.R. 847), called the Zadroga Act, was called into law by President Obama in 2010 and it states that those who have 9/11 related health conditions may be eligible for health care under this law.

If you believe you were exposed to asbestos at ground zero and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, you may be entitled to financial compensation. To learn more about your legal options regarding a possible mesothelioma settlement, please contact an asbestos lawyer.

Asbestos Found in George Washington University

With the new school year getting underway and many parents getting their children settled into new schools across the country, safety precautions are generally a top priority. For families at George Washington University, one of those precautions involves asbestos exposure.

According to the GW Hatchet, the University’s newspaper, Rice Hall – which houses offices for some of the school’s highest officials – underwent asbestos abatement projects in August to prepare for renovations that are scheduled for the building in the near future.

 Darrell Darnell, the senior associate vice president for safety and security at the school, said that students and faculty at the school would not be put in any unsafe conditions or see any adverse health effects caused by any exposure to asbestos. However, he also would not divulge what floors, pipes, tiles, or other building products in the hall had been found to contain asbestos.

“GW has an asbestos policy that guides the maintenance of asbestos-containing materials in University buildings,” added William Flint, the university’s director of the office of health and safety. “Prior to renovation or demolition of any university building, a hazardous materials survey is conducted using District of Columbia and EPA regulations to determine the risk to students, staff, faculty and construction workers. If hazardous materials are discovered, proper abatement is conducted to remove the materials prior to construction or demolition.”

The abatement processes only took one week. Hopefully there will be no asbestos problems at the university as classes get underway this fall.

If you or a loved one has been exposed to asbestos by using certain products or working for certain companies and have subsequently been diagnosed with mesothelioma, there may be legal options worth pursuing to obtain a mesothelioma settlement. Contact a mesothelioma attorney if you have any questions about the details of asbestos law and what is needed to pursue a settlement from the manufacturer of the asbestos product (not necessarily your company).