Asbestos anguish

Asbestos-related deaths in the North have reached a new five-year high, Daily Ireland can reveal.During 2004, the last year for which statistics are available, 65 people died of asbestosis and mesothelioma – the highest figure recorded since the late 1990s.The 2004 death toll represents a 15 per cent increase on asbestos-related deaths for the previous year, 2003, when 55 were recorded, and a 33 per cent increase on deaths for 2000, when 43 occurred.News of the sharp rise in asbestos-related deaths come as Belfast residents prepare to stage a mass protest next week outside the site of a proposed asbestos dump.Grove Services Group (GSG) wants to establish an asbestos storage plant on Kennedy Way in the west of the city, just yards from a large housing estate, nursery school and business park.The residents’ protest will take place next Wednesday.In sensitive company documentation obtained by Daily Ireland before Christmas, GSG admit that there is a high risk of residents living near the dump breathing in cancer-causing asbestos fibres.There is also a high risk of asbestos escaping from bags being transported to the dump, and a medium risk of the deadly dust escaping during manual handling by plant workers. Despite this, GSG’s plans for the site have won planning permission.The Department of the Environment (DOE) has also granted planning permission for the development of an asbestos dump at Crosshill Quarry, Co Antrim, despite bitter opposition from residents.At the end of 2004, residents of Killala, Co Mayo, held a protest march against the opening of a €10 million (£6.88 million) asbestos recycling plant in the area.With the asbestos issue set to come to the fore again this week, a Belfast solicitor who specialises in asbestos-related cases, spoke of the horrendous way in which victims die.Michael Hollywood of Higgins, Hollywood and Deazley, told Daily Ireland there is no safe level of exposure.He said: “Mesothelioma is an appalling condition and it is horrifying to watch someone die from this disease.“In many cases people can die within a few months of diagnosis, the misery visited upon victims of mesothelioma cannot be over-emphasised. There is no cure for the disease, you can only get treatment to try and reduce the pain.”

'Love cannot just stop'

BLOOMFIELD HILLS - Mirella Panozzo vividly recalls the last few years of her husband's life.
She remembers sadly how Carl's 6-foot, 175-pound frame dwindled to just skin and bones and how cancer took his right lung and left him in excruciating pain just before his death Aug. 25, 2003. He died at age 62, three years after he was diagnosed with mesothelioma.
But the Bloomfield Hills woman says one thing never changed, even after his death.
"Love cannot just stop," she says.
"I remember, at the very beginning, someone told us there are many cases when cancer hits someone in the family - a husband or wife - there's a divorce because it's too much and one of them can't take it. With us, it was different.
"We got closer."
So, to honor her husband of 25 years this Valentine's Day, she's trying to make the public more aware of the cancer that claimed his life.
She said she's trying to raise money for mesothelioma research "and doesn't want people to be sad" about the suffering and loss of her husband.
"The sickness is what it is," she said.
Panozzo, mother of two adult sons, said she's also trying to inform the public that mesothelioma is caused by breathing in asbestos. She especially fears for the health of first responders after the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City who might face the same deadly fate as her husband.
"The government needs to focus on finding treatments and cures for mesothelioma," said Panozzo, whose husband worked at General Motors Corp.
"There are thousands and thousands of people we need to think about" in regard to getting the fatal illness, said Panozzo. "I want the government to recognize that.
"On Sept. 11, there was asbestos from those buildings in the air. Thousands were breathing that. Doctors need to hurry up and find a cure because many, many might die."
Panozzo said her husband worked as a carpenter at the Warren Tech Center and also at a GM facility in Framington, Mass.
She wants people to give on Valentine's Day, and not just to their sweethearts.
"I want people to have hope that this disease can be cured," she said. "Open your heart this Valentine's Day and donate" to the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation in Santa Barbara, Calif., so researchers can find treatments and a possible cure for the disease.
"There is hope," she said. "If you don't have hope, you die before you die.
"My husband had faith and hope in God until the last month. When the pain is so strong, you only want something that makes you not feel the pain."
She witnessed her husband's agony in his final days as pain-killing medication lost its effectiveness.
She also noted the cost of being seriously ill.
"If you don't have good insurance, you're talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars" in medical bills.
When her husband was diagnosed, she said the doctor told them "to go home and enjoy life until you die."
Now, she said, they're finding out there is hope. She said a drug, Alimta, gave her husband a few extra months.
"Those were pretty good times," she said.
Panozzo remembers the day in August 2003 when there was a power outage and the machine that helped provide Carl with oxygen quit working.
"I called the Karmanos Center to get help," she said, "but it was impossible (for them) to do anything because they had so many others to help.
"On very short notice, however, all the neighbors came down to our home. One had a generator and brought it here. We needed gasoline to run it. Then my son said, 'Mom, Mom, look out the window' and all the neighbors were walking toward our house with gallons of gasoline so my husband could breathe.
"I will never forget that. So now, I'm trying to get people to donate for research so this deadly disease will be cured."

JustMeso.com offers a plethora of information on treatment options for mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma, the deadly disease that has been at the forefront of global medical and legal research for the last decade, is becoming increasingly susceptible to advanced treatment options. While the disease is not yet curable, if caught very early there are a wide range of rather divergent medical treatment options which have had substantial success in limiting the harmful effects of malignant mesothelioma.While there are a number of treatment options available, often there is a great deal of unknown information regarding what the procedures available are and how they work. To that end, JustMeso.com ( http://www.JustMeso.com ) has provided comprehensive information about the disease, its causes, and now the treatment options available to those diagnosed at its website.The site explains in great detail the many traditional and new treatments available to those diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, such as surgical solutions, radiation, and chemotherapy. JustMeso.com breaks down each category into its component procedures as well as providing information on the extent of a procedure, its level of invasiveness, as well as an analysis of the costs and benefits of each specific procedure. This analysis includes summaries of information on the effectiveness and the scope of the effectiveness of a particular treatment option. Combined, the information compiled by JustMeso.com in their treatment options section ( http://www.justmeso.com/treatment/ ), provides those diagnosed as well as their loved ones with a comprehensive resource from which they can attain a deeper understanding of the diseases as well as assess either own situation in light of the present treatment options available. This information can prove valuable insofar as it will give individuals an excellent overview of the options available to them. Through this information, individuals affected by mesothelioma can make more educated decisions about their own situation as well as be better situated to provide support for others. Of course, none of the information on JustMeso should be taken as medical advice, and a person should always consult their physician before taking treatment.JustMeso.com ( http://www.JustMeso.com ) is based in the United States. It was created with the intent of providing a single resource for individuals seeking information about malignant mesothelioma. If you have questions regarding information in this press release contact the company listed below. I-Newswire.com is a press release service and not the author of this press release. The information that is on or available through this site is for informational purposes only and speaks only as of the particular date or dates of that information. As some companies / PR Agencies submit their press releases once per week/month or quarter, make sure check the official company website for accurate release dates as our site displays the I-Newswire.com distribution date only. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of information on or available through this site, and we are not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in that information or for actions taken in reliance on that information.

Asbestos Settlement Blocked in Senate

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Legislation to create a $140 billion industry-funded asbestos-injury trust fund was sent back to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday evening after proponents failed to muster the 60 votes they needed to overcome a procedural hurdle.
The bill's proponents say the defeat was only temporary. The one senator to miss the vote is on their side. And Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., already is considering bringing the bill back to the Senate floor.
But even if Frist wins the vote the second time around, further hurdles remain, and senators who may have backed him on the procedural vote may oppose him as the measure gets closer to passage from the Senate floor.
The twist is just the latest for a bill long since thought dead that simply refuses to die.
The measure would create a trust funded by contributions from companies with asbestos injury liabilities and their insurers. The trust would also seize the assets of private asbestos injury trusts. Workers with asbestos-related injuries would be paid set amounts depending on the severity of their injuries, up to $1.1 million for victims suffering from mesothelioma. In exchange for funding the trust, business and their insurers would be excused from any future liability for any asbestos-related injury claim.
Most Democrats and many Republicans oppose the bill, but the author, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., simply refuses to quit.
The vote Tuesday was on waiving certain budget rules to allow the bill to progress. Specter needed the OK of 60 of 100 senators, a tough sell on a controversial bill.
The outcome was uncertain to the end, teetering at 59 to 40 for minutes as senators waited to see how Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, would vote.
But Inouye, who was home tending to his sick wife, never arrived.
Frist eventually changed his vote, bringing the final tally to 58 to 41 and maintaining a lifeline for the measure.
Under Senate rules, a senator voting on the side that prevails - in this case the side asking that budget rules not be waived - can ask that the vote be reconsidered.
Specter said later that Inouye had said he would have voted to waive the budget rules, giving the bill the 60 votes it would need to survive another day.
"As John Paul Jones said, 'we have just begun to fight'," Specter said.
Lobbyists from all interests watched the bill's progress nervously all day.
The bill's demise would be a huge financial loss to dozens of companies with asbestos liabilities such as Owens Corning (OWC), USG Corp. (USG), and W.R. Grace & Co. (GRA).
According to the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, 10 asbestos companies including Owens Corning, USG, and W.R. Grace would have see their future liabilities fall from an estimated $25.9 billion to $5.6 billion under the legislation.
Another eight companies - Fortune 500 businesses that used asbestos in their production - were also expected to reap substantial savings under the bill, according to Public Citizen.
These companies include Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) - which faces asbestos claims through its wholly owned subsidiary Union Carbide - General Electric Co. (GE), Ford Motor Co. (F), General Motors Corp. (GM), Georgia-Pacific Corp. (GP), Honeywell International Inc. (HON), Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and Viacom Inc. (VIA), according to Public Citizen.
Honeywell International faces asbestos liabilities through its former brick and cement-making unit, the North American Refractories Co. Pfizer faces asbestos liabilities through its subsidiary Quigley Co., while Viacom bought into the asbestos issue by purchasing CBS, which in turn owned Westinghouse.
A specific list of who would have won and by how much is impossible to write, said Public Citizen legislative council Jillian Aldebron, because the bill's sponsors refused to release a confidential list of companies with potential asbestos liabilities.
Those benefitting from defeat of the bill would include small and mid-sized companies that would have seen their asbestos liabilities increase, and defendant company insurers.
Asbestos is a mineral used in flame-resistant insulation in the automotive, construction and defense industries. It has been linked to a number of lung diseases, including a particularly virulent form of lung cancer, mesothelioma.
More than 730,000 people in the United States filed compensation claims for asbestos-related injuries from the early 1970s through the end of 2002, according to the RAND Corp. Those claims have cost businesses and their insurers more than $70 billion. About 40% of that money has gone to asbestos victims, while defendant and plaintiff legal expenses consumed roughly equal halves of the remainder.
Claims on the fund are expected to come quickly, while the bulk of contributions to the fund would be paid gradually over years. As a result, the fund would need to borrow from the federal government to remain solvent, and therefore was vulnerable to certain budget rules.
"People think this is some technical jargon," said Sen. John Ensign, R-Ariz. But the budget rules were put in place "to make sure that the Senate carefully weigh whether or not we are putting undue burdens and obligations on future Congresses and generations of Americans."
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Ensign and others were "using the mantle of fiscal responsibility as an excuse not to legislate."
The bill states that the trust fund's manager couldn't borrow more than could be paid back and that over the fund's lifetime all money borrowed, plus interest, would be repaid.
Bill co-author Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told fellow senators that by voting against the bill, "you are telling thousands upon thousands of victims 'You are on your own and probably have no chance of recovering the recovery you'd have here (under the bill).'"
Public Citizen's Aldebron said the bill's defeat "means that asbestos victims will get their day in court."
Employees injured by asbestos exposure can still sue for damages as could consumers, residents near asbestos operations and others who would have been precluded from making any claims under the bill, Aldebron said.

Lessons in Japan's Asbestosis Time Bomb

TOKYO , Feb 15 (IPS) - As a child, Yoshiharu Sawada, now 77 years old, would visit his mother at the local asbestos factory where she worked and wait till she finished her shift so they could walk home together. But, today, says Sawada, a frail, soft-spoken man, those happy memories have turned into a terribly tragedy. Sawada was diagnosed with pleurisy ten years ago and suffers horribly from long bouts of coughing that leave him numbed with pain. ''I never realised those happy days had actually laid the foundation for my disease because nobody told us that asbestos is deadly,'' he explained to IPS. Sawada, whose mother died of a lung disease 17 years ago, can hardly breathe and was forced to give up his occupation as a shopkeeper. He relies on heavy and costly medication and a small pension that barely covers his living expenses. Several times over the past few years, he has been hospitalised for procedures to remove water in his lungs, a condition doctors say could be related to the intake of deadly asbestos particles that he was exposed to as a child. Prolonged exposure to asbestos dust often results in a condition, broadly known as asbestosis, in which victims suffer from shortness of breath and become prone to several forms of lung disease including pleurisy and lung cancer--especially of a specific type called mesothelioma. ‘'I remember how the factory where my mother worked was full of asbestos particles. I could hardly see her working because the air was so thick with white asbestos dust,'' he explains in his little home in Kumamoto, 1,200 km west of Tokyo. Asbestos, a material once hailed as a wonder substance because of its cheapness and its resistance to fire and heat, has been used as a raw material in over 3,000 products according to some experts here. But, Japan's unregulated use of asbestos in the seventies and eighties is now being linked to thousands of deaths and cancer cases among middle-aged workers who had been exposed to the deadly ‘mineral fibre' in their factories or in buildings. Says Hiroyuki Kawamoto, director of the Kanagawa Asbestos Centre: ''The latest asbestos scandal has shocked the public because it shows once again, how the government's priority was protecting the health of corporations over the health of the people. There are now more than 200 people who seek our assistance here for compensation''. Indeed, investigations have squarely blamed the government and shown that despite international medical evidence in the seventies that proved the connection between asbestos -- a form of stone -- and lung cancer, the health ministry did nothing to stop its usage in Japan. As a result, almost 800 deaths attributed to mesothelioma were reported among middle-aged workers in 2003 -- a figure that activists say is only the beginning because asbestos is " a silent time bomb" given the long years it takes for the disease to develop after exposure. The scandal forced the government to pass a special compensation package with asbestos companies for sufferers and victims last month. Payments also include around 1,000 US dollars per month for people, an amount that is that is less than half of regular workers' compensation. But the package does not cover people like Sawada who do not have mesothelioma or have not worked with asbestos directly. This is a situation that is being challenged by activists who see the new law as an attempt by the government to avoid accepting blame. Prof. Ken Takahashi, at the University of Occupational and Environmental Health in KitaKyushu, predicts an asbestos related epidemic in Japan as workers begin to grow old and start falling ill. He estimates that around 2,440 people a year will die of mesothelioma between 2035 and 2039. ''The compensation law was quickly passed to deal with an emerging grave problem in Japan,'' he says, pointing out it was an important landmark in the fight to force the government to take responsibility, despite the lack of concrete support. With backing from the International Labour Organisation, experts and activists have joined hands with sufferers to demand better protection standards which they say is important not only for Japan but also for most countries in Asia where asbestos is yet to be banned. Takahashi, a participant in the Global Asbestos Congress 2004, points out that the threat is large given the relentless pursuit of market economy expansion in developing Asia and that Japan provides important lessons for many governments. ''The tragedy in Japan acts as a crucial example for Asia. It's best to limit the usage of asbestos in countries that have still not banned the product. Japan can also help with better health check systems in Asia,'' said Takahashi, indicating how smaller asbestos companies in Japan have gone bankrupt from paying out workers' compensations. (END/2006)

Getting aid to asbestos victims / Govt has tough row to plow in identifying diseases to blame

Makoto Mitsui Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
Following the enactment earlier this month of a law that provides financial support for victims of asbestos-linked diseases, the government now needs to establish standards to identify those eligible for financial aid.
The law provides for compensation for people who contracted such diseases while living near factories using asbestos, and for family members of employees at such factories, who are not covered by workers compensation. The government also will give 3 million yen in condolence money to the families of those who died of asbestos-linked diseases. In addition, victims of such diseases will have their medical bills covered and be entitled to benefits of 100,000 yen per month.
The government aims to establish the standards by the end of next month, and start accepting applications for compensation. However, it is unclear whether the system will provide compensation for all sufferers of asbestos-linked diseases.
Before establishing official recognition standards, a committee established by the Environment Ministry and the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry drew up a list of medical criteria on Feb. 2. According to the criteria, mesothelioma sufferers will be eligible for relief, as more than 90 percent of mesothelioma patients are thought to have contracted the disease through exposure to asbestos.
But when it comes to lung cancer patients, it is much harder to make a decision. Out of the 60,000 people who die of lung cancer annually, only 1 percent to 3 percent of deaths are believed caused by asbestos. Identifying such cases is difficult because many other factors, such as smoking, can cause lung cancer.
The committee concluded that lung cancer cases in which the pleura, or membrane, was partially thickened and the lung tissues had become hardened could be considered as asbestos-induced.
However, a member of the committee said, "There are cases when hardened lung tissue is not obvious, even when the disease occurred from asbestos," which indicates that the committee's standards could fail to cover all victims. But relaxing the standards would be expensive, as it would throw open the gates to people who contracted lung cancer from causes other than asbestos.
The government has a hard task ahead of it in ensuring that all victims of asbestos-linked diseases get compensation, while at the same time ensuring that those not entitled to compensation are excluded.
One committee member, Prof. Koki Inai of Hiroshima University, said, "When it's hard to tell whether the lung tissue is hardened or not, it's important to be flexible and take into consideration whether the patient had lived in an environment with asbestos exposure."
Initially, the only victims likely to be covered under the new law are those with mesothelial tumors or lung cancer. Those with asbestos-induced pleural effusion are covered by workers' compensation and are not subject to the new law.
An Environment Ministry official explained, "There are no reports of asbestos-induced pleural effusion in general environments unless a person has been exposed to asbestos at work."
But some experts disagree with this statement. One said: "We can't tell if there are patients with asbestos-induced pleural effusion in a general environment. Perhaps we should do detailed research around asbestos-related factories, such as in Amagasaki in Hyogo Prefecture."
Without checking a person's work history, it is hard to say whether he or she is suffering from an asbestos-induced disease. If the government is to add undocumented patients to the list of beneficiaries, it will face difficulties in developing the standards.
Organizations of asbestos victims had claimed that the new relief plan is less favorable to victims compared to industrial accident compensation, which includes benefits for missed work or pensions for bereaved family members.
It is, however, a step forward in providing compensation to people who lived near factories using asbestos or families of these factory workers, considering that until now such people were not eligible for benefits.
The government must make a thorough investigation into industry-related diseases, including lung cancer, with the aim of identifying and providing to cover all victims of asbestos-linked diseases.
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Number of victims unknown
Asbestos-related diseases became a big issue in June after it was disclosed that people who lived near a factory operated by machinery manufacturer Kubota Corp. in Amagasaki had mesothelioma. Following the revelation, it was learned that people living near asbestos-related factories in Saga and Nara prefectures also had the disease.
However, the disease seems limited to people living near such factories, as there have not been many reports of people living in other environments contracting asbestos-linked disease.
Of mesothelioma sufferers, 70 percent to 80 percent of them contracted the disease from exposure to asbestos at work. However, only 10 percent of them are recognized as victims of occupational accidents.
Prof. Iwao Uchiyama of Kyoto University Graduate School said, "We need to find out how many people contracted the disease in a general environment, by looking at the result of epidemiologic investigations conducted by the government."
It takes 30 to 40 years after exposure to asbestos until the symptoms of a mesothelial tumor become noticeable. This means that those who inhaled asbestos in the early 1970s will now present symptoms of asbestos-related diseases.
Imports of asbestos peaked around the 1970s, but in 1975 the government started to take preventive measures, such as banning the use of sprayed asbestos.
It is unknown how many people will develop asbestos-related diseases. An Environment Ministry official said, "The number of future patients depends on how effective the preventive measures were."