Articles Posted in Boston Mesothelioma

Any amount of asbestos exposure can be deadly, which is why state and federal authorities have strict guidelines in place for how the material must be handled and disposed.

Unfortunately, there continue to be business, property owners and contractors who flout these rules simply to save a few bucks.

Recently in the case of United States v. O’Malley, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld the 10-year prison sentence of a contractor who tried to sidestep health and safety regulations.
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The prognosis for mesothelioma sufferers is grave. Most sufferers do not have a very long life expectancy. While experimental treatments always raise hope for patients and their loved ones, it is difficult to know when these scientific breakthroughs can deliver practical and positive results for patients. Another new treatment is offering hope to the victims of the deadly cancer and has been making headlines worldwide.

Asbestos-related cancer, also known as mesothelioma, is problematic in industrialized nations throughout the world. Scientific communities throughout the U.K., Europe, Australia, Asia, and the United States have been working for a treatment and cure of the fatal cancer. According to the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute in Sydney, new research results could signal a breakthrough genetic treatment. Our mesothelioma attorneys in New England are abreast of all medical and legal issues related to mesothelioma. We are dedicated to providing legal support to clients and staying abreast of developments in the medical community.
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Mesothelioma Awareness Day has been a large-scale public event throughout the United States since the first campaign was launched in 2005. This year, Mesothelioma Awareness Day was held on September 26th and was declared a success by the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (Meso Foundation).

Our Boston mesothelioma lawyers know that this asbestos-related cancers continue to be a top cause of cancer deaths and affect many thousands of patients. Efforts like Mesothelioma Awareness Day help to draw attention to this serious public health issue and to raise necessary funds for research and clinical trials that could help patients to find more effective treatments for mesothelioma.
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A Georgia man recently wrote to his local newspaper to detail his experiences having been diagnosed last year with mesothelioma.

Given just 14 months to live, the man was referred to a medical specialist in Boston who performed a cutting-edge surgery that involved removing a rib and the pleura, or outer lining, of his right lung. He then underwent intensive chemotherapy.

He describes the ordeal as an immense struggle, but one that has made him grateful for the many supportive people around him. Our Boston mesothelioma lawyers know that a diagnosis of mesothelioma resulting from a decades-earlier exposure to asbestos is often a shocking and devastating blow for a patient and his or her family. It’s normal to not know what to do next. Families may find resources scant.
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The risk of asbestos exposure in Boston and throughout the country is not simply a thing of the past.

While it’s true that many industries and manufacturers have begun to shy away from using the deadly compound due to the enormous legal liabilities, the material remains to this day in countless government, commercial and residential structures throughout the country. For the most part, its presence doesn’t cause a major problem – so long as it’s not disturbed.

Problems arise, however, when demolition or renovation occurs. When dry asbestos fibers are disturbed, they are friable, flake and form plumes of dust. These dust clouds can be deadly when inhaled, though those exposed won’t know it until many years later. Mesothelioma and asbestosis, the deadly diseases resulting from asbestos exposure, don’t reveal themselves for decades after exposure.
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More than a half a century ago, a teenager from Colorado helped his father insulate the attic above their home with asbestos-containing vermiculite. It was a big job, and he was proud to have helped his father carry it out.

Today, he is coping with a diagnosis of peritoneal mesothelioma. Living with the disease for the past six years, he is among those who have survived longer than expected. However, there is no cure for mesothelioma, and it’s expected his life span will be dramatically shortened.

In the time he has left, the 74-year-old is working to raise awareness about asbestos-containing vermiculite insulation, which is still present in many homes throughout Boston and the rest of the country. He spoke recently at the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association Expo. His presentation was entitled, “Monsters in the Attic and Elsewhere: The Unseen Threats of Retrofit Projects.”
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A jury in Louisiana has found the Dow Chemical Company liable on all counts in a civil asbestos lawsuit brought by a former worker suffering from a terminal cancer known as mesothelioma.

Our Boston mesothelioma attorneys understand this is just one of what is sure to be at least hundreds if not thousands of cases filed against the southern manufacturer.

So callous were company officials that not only did they lobby hard in opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency’s bid to ban the substance, company employees conducted a “cost per cancer” analysis. This allowed them to determine the relative cost of employee cancer claims, which they knew to be inevitable, versus the cost of altering all of their plants to be asbestos-free processing sites. They determined that the $1.2 billion it would cost to switch the sites over simply wasn’t worth it – no matter the risk they were taking with workers’ lives.
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A new study published recently by the Danish Medical Journal indicates that bans on asbestos are slow to drive down the number of mesothelioma diagnoses as a whole.

While our Boston mesothelioma lawyers can certainly appreciate that progress takes time, we worry that asbestos defendants will attempt to twist these findings to somehow indicate that their culpability has been overstated.

The truth of the matter is that mesothelioma, an aggressive and terminal cancer that attacks the delicate lining of the lungs and/or stomach, is caused by asbestos, and only asbestos. The problem in proving claims has historically been this very issue of latency. The disease displays no symptoms whatsoever until it is in its advanced stages. By then, the patient is typically given a few years to live.
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