Mesothelioma News

The Senate Rejects Asbestos Trust Fund

The Senate stood up for the rights of working people throughout America when it struck down a proposed bill that would have established a $140 billion trust fund to compensate victims of asbestos-related diseases.

Asbestos ads don't flood Sessions with angry phone calls

An advertising blitz criticizing Sen. Jeff Sessions' support for asbestos trust fund legislation didn't result in a flood of angry phone calls to his office, but it sure got him upset with the trial lawyers who helped pay for the ads.

Surgery After Chemotherapy Shows Promise for Patients With Mesothelioma

Results from a recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology indicate that neoadjuvant chemotherapy appears promising for the treatment of patients with malignant mesothelioma.

Experimental Surgery Gives Cancer Patient Hope: Woman Diagnosed With 'Untreatable' Disease

Nine months ago, Karen Grant was diagnosed with a cancer that doctors said was untreatable, but an experimental surgery gave her a sliver of hope.

Halliburton Co. to pay $30 million to asbestos victims

About 120 families of people exposed to deadly asbestos while working in shipyards, construction sites and industrial plants in the Pacific Northwest or serving on Navy ships serviced in Seattle will be paid $30 million by the Halliburton Co. as part of a recent $4.3 billion national settlement to wrap up asbestos liabilities.

Yonkers schools fined by EPA for failing to comply with federal asbestos laws

Under the federal Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act, local New York education authorities since 1986 are required to inspect all school buildings for asbestos damage, develop abatement plans and keep the public, students and teachers informed about asbestos related hazards.

Nation's largest asbestos cleanup scam results in two longest federal jail sentences for environmental crimes

In the longest terms of imprisonment in U.S. history for a federal environmental crime, father and son owners of asbestos abatement companies in New York State were sentenced December 23, 2004, in U.S. District Court in Syracuse to 25 years and 19.5 years of imprisonment.

"Family of mesothelioma victim awarded $10 million from Ford Motor Company"

A jury ordered Ford Motor Co. to pay $10 million to the family of a Michigan woman who died of mesothelioma in 2000.

"Pfizer agrees to pay $430 million for asbestos litigation"

Pfizer, Inc. is the world's largest drug maker and has now agreed to pay $430 million to resolve most personal injury claims against its subsidiary Quigley Co. Pfizer bought Quigley in 1968, which sold products containing asbestos in the 1970s used to coat steel-making equipment.

Over 100,000 people at risk for mesothelioma after 9/11 attacks

According to the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF), over 100,000 individuals present in Manhattan during and immediately after the collapse of the Twin Towers are at risk for developing mesothelioma.

"CDC: No end in sight for asbestos deaths"

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a tremendous rise in the number of deaths related to asbestos exposure from the late 1960s to present day - and they only expect death tolls to rise.

Report: Auto Mechanics Exposed To High Asbestos Levels In Brakes

Auto mechanics are being exposed to dangerous levels of cancer-causing asbestos used to line brakes and are not informed of the risk, a study commissioned by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has found.

2 Texas Juries Award Tyler Pipe Employees $26 Million For Occupational Exposure To Asbestos

Twice in less than a week, a jury here awarded longtime employees of Tyler Pipe Industries Inc. a multimillion-dollar award for occupational injuries from exposure to asbestos at Tyler's iron foundry in Swan, Texas.

Baltimore Jury Awards $10.3 Million To 14 Plaintiffs In Last Round Of Consolidated Asbestos Cases

In the last set of 400 consolidated asbestos cases to be decided in a month-long trial in Baltimore City Circuit Court, a jury on Aug. 9 awarded 14 people suffering from asbestos-related diseases $10.3 million.

Georgia-Pacific Knew of Asbestos Dangers, Report Charges

Georgia-Pacific kept selling asbestos-containing joint compounds in the 1960's and 1970's even though its leaders knew about the serious health problems caused by asbestos, according to a recent news story (Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Patty Bond, September 15, 2002).

San Francisco Jury Awards $33.7 Million To Former Navy Electrician

In what is believed to be the largest verdict ever in a California asbestos case, a San Francisco jury awarded a total of $33,700,000 to a former navy electrician and his wife.

CDC Says Asbestos Deaths Are Skyrocketing

Asbestos deaths in the United States have skyrocketed since the late 1960s and will probably keep on climbing through the next decade because of long-ago exposure to the material, once widely used for insulation and fireproofing, the government said Thursday.

Bankruptcy exit plan for generator firm gains

The Babcock & Wilcox unit of McDermott International Inc. has won court approval of its plan to emerge from bankruptcy by putting assets worth about $1.8 billion into a trust to pay more than 222,000 asbestos-injury claims.