Length of time using Vioxx seen key in Merck trial

Corrects 5th paragraph to read based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey
By Anna Driver
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Opening arguments in the next Vioxx liability trial start on Monday as Merck & Co. faces the lone lawyer who has beaten the company in one of these cases — this time representing two long-term users of the painkiller who say it caused their heart attacks.
So far, two juries have found Merck not liable, while Mark Lanier, a flamboyant Texas lawyer, helped secure a $253 million judgment for the widow of a Vioxx user last August.
The trial, set to begin next week in New Jersey Superior Court in Atlantic City, marks the first involving plaintiffs who took the painkiller for more than 18 months.
Merck withdrew the arthritis drug from the market in September 2004 after a study showed the risk of heart attack and stroke doubled in patients who took Vioxx for at least 18 months.
The company, based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, faces nearly 10,000 lawsuits from people accusing it of hiding health risks of a medicine that once generated annual sales of $2.5 billion.
In earlier trials, Merck maintained there was no evidence of heightened risk for short-term Vioxx users.
"The length of exposure is a critical issue in these cases," Howard Erichson, a law professor at Seton Hall University, said. "The scientific evidence on causation is stronger for long-term use than short-term use, but that doesn't mean the defendant just lays down."
Lanier is representing Thomas Cona, a 59-year-old New Jersey businessman who says he took Vioxx for 22 months prior to suffering a heart attack in June 2003.
The other plaintiff, John McDarby, 77, says he took Vioxx for four years and had a heart attack in April 2004 after a fall in which he also broke his hip.
"I think what you are going to see is that the plaintiffs are going to have a difficult task showing that Vioxx caused their heart attacks," Chuck Harrell, one of Merck's attorneys in Atlantic City, said. "Each of them had multiple pre-existing risk factors that are well known to cause heart attacks."
Both men had a history of high blood pressure and high cholesterol and were smokers, Harrell said.
In court documents, Merck, citing prescription records, has also argued that Cona was not even a long-term user of Vioxx.
LANIER FACTOR?
Some even say the outcome of the trial could hinge on the performance of Lanier, a gifted attorney and preacher who has won hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for his clients in product liability cases.
"Only one out of four juries was able to reach a conclusion that Merck had withheld important information about Vioxx even though they all received similar factual records," Benjamin Zipursky, a professor at Fordham University School of Law, said.
"One obvious conjecture is that Mr. Lanier has the ability to present these facts in a way that is highly persuasive to the ordinary people sitting on juries," he said.
Still, there is some doubt about whether Lanier's folksy Southern style will play in Atlantic City, where an eight-woman and two-man jury was selected to hear the case.
"With trial lawyers, rapport with the jury is very important," Howard Erichson, a law professor at Seton Hall University, said. "An out-of-state lawyer may find it more difficult to connect with a jury, but it's all about preparation."
Merck is based in New Jersey, but its lead attorney in the case is Christy Jones, from the Jackson, Mississippi, firm of Butler, Snow, O'Mara, Stevens & Cannada.
The trial is expected to last three to four weeks, an attorney for Merck said.
Copyright 2006 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Short-term bills' interest mixed

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were mixed in the government's auction with rates on three-month bills edging down while rates on six-month bills climbed to the highest level in more than five years.
The Treasury Department auctioned $21 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 4.50 percent, down from 4.51 percent last week. Six-month bills totaling $19 billion were auctioned at a discount rate of 4.60 percent, up from 4.58 percent last week.
The three-month rate was the lowest since these bills averaged 4.450 percent on Feb. 21. The six-month rate was the highest since 4.770 percent on Feb. 20, 2001.
Separately, the Federal Reserve said that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, rose to 4.74 percent last week from 4.72 percent the previous week.
Associated Press
NBC Universal set to buy iVillage
General Electric's NBC Universal became the latest “old media” company to make a further foray into the fast-growing world of online advertising, announcing plans to acquire the women's Web site company iVillage for about $600 million.
The agreement signals an expanding strategy for NBC Universal, home to television network NBC, Universal Pictures and cable channels Bravo and USA Network. It also reflects the larger push among traditional media companies to not get left behind as more consumers shift to the Internet for news, entertainment and shopping.
NBC agreed to pay $8.50 in cash for each share of iVillage, which describes itself as “the Internet for women” with sites including Astrology.com, GardenWeb.com and gURL, a Web site aimed at teenage girls.
Associated Press
Attorneys clash in Vioxx case
The legal fight over Vioxx returned to a New Jersey courtroom with lawyers for two men who blame their heart attacks on the pain reliever telling jurors that manufacturer Merck & Co. knowingly concealed its risks from consumers.
Merck's lead attorney dismissed those claims, attributing the heart attacks to other health problems while saying Vioxx was rigorously studied for more than seven years and complied with government requirements for new drugs.
Mark Lanier, attorney for Thomas Cona, 59, said the use of Vioxx made people with risk factors for heart disease “walking time bombs,” but Merck executives purposely withheld information about the drug to make more money selling it.
Robert Gordon, a lawyer for plaintiff John McDarby, 77, told the eight-woman, two-man jury that McDarby – a diabetic – would never have had Vioxx prescribed for his arthritis pain if Merck had properly warned of its dangers.
Associated Press
Halozyme enrolls five for trial
Halozyme Therapeutics, a San Diego-based company developing recombinant human enzymes, said that it has completed enrollment of five patients in a Phase 1 clinical trial using its product Chemophase to improve delivery of chemotherapy drugs in people with bladder cancer.
The trial was designed to evaluate Chemophase with the widely used anti-cancer drug mitomycin.
GM to reduce holdings in Suzuk
General Motors will sell a 17.4 percent stake in Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. for $2 billion, scaling down its share in an effort to gain much-needed cash, but the partnership between the automakers will continue.
GM, which is embarking on a massive turnaround effort after losing $8.6 billion last year, will maintain a 3 percent stake in Suzuki, dropping to seventh largest shareholder from top shareholder.
Suzuki plans to purchase all of the 92.36 million Suzuki shares that GM will sell in a buyback program.
Associated Press
Northwest pilots face pay cut
Pilots at Northwest Airlines will take a 24 percent pay cut and forgo raises for at least two years under a tentative contract reached with the bankrupt carrier last week.
The terms, spelled out in a summary of the agreement sent to pilots, include a 1.5 percent wage increase starting in 2008. The union's top council approved a plan Saturday for balloting by its 5,700 members. The group won't suggest how members should vote until a March 14 meeting. The agreement may spare Northwest from a strike by pilots that the airline has said would threaten its survival.
Bloomberg News
More Mexican cement due in U.S.
U.S. officials signed an agreement that will boost shipments of Mexican cement into the United States, resolving a 16-year trade fight. The agreement, which will take effect April 3, will allow imports of Mexican cement to rise to 3 million tons annually, up from what U.S. contractors estimate was 2.2 million tons of cement imported from Mexico last year.
The U.S. trade barriers are designed to be eliminated as part of a deal in which Mexico will open up its market to U.S. and other foreign cement manufacturers.
The United States began imposing penalty tariffs in 1990 after a finding that Mexican cement was being sold in the United States at unfairly low prices, a practice known as dumping.

Merck disclosed Vioxx heart risks, court told

ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey (Reuters) - Merck & Co. Inc. disclosed a report showing that its pain drug Vioxx had heart attack risks and did not try to hide results that could have hurt sales, the company's former head of marketing told a New Jersey state court on Wednesday.
David Anstice said Merck sales representatives and scientists talked openly to physicians, regulators and the media about a large study that found Vioxx users suffered five times as many cardiovascular events as those taking naproxen, another pain-reliever from a different class of drugs.
In his third day on the witness stand at the second Vioxx state trial in New Jersey, Anstice said Merck sales people were candid about the reasons for a change in the drug's labeling in April 2002 that drew attention to heart risks associated with the arthritis medicine.
"They were actively discussing the Vigor data after the label change," Anstice told the New Jersey Superior Court in Atlantic City in a reference to the 8,000-patient study published in March 2000.
Merck is being sued by two men who blame the drug for their heart attacks. Thomas Cona, 59, had a heart attack in June 2003 after using the drug for 22 months. John McDarby, 77, who has appeared in court in a wheelchair, took Vioxx for four years and suffered a heart attack in April 2004.
The trial is being closely watched as it is the first involving long-term Vioxx users and could provide a clearer view of what Merck is up against as it wades through nearly 10,000 Vioxx-related lawsuits.
Merck withdrew Vioxx from the market in September 2004 after a study showed it doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke after 18 months of use. All the previous Vioxx cases to come to trial involved patients who took the drug for less than 18 months, enabling Merck lawyers to argue that there was no evidence of increased risk with short-term use.
Under questioning from Merck attorney Mike Brock, Anstice said that a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel which evaluates drugs for the market had voted unanimously to approve Vioxx, and that Merck scientists had had extensive discussions with regulators about the drug before that decision.
All the drug's effects, not just its benefits, were disclosed, Anstice said. "Any adverse experiences were also described to the FDA," he testified.
On Tuesday, Cona's attorney Mark Lanier accused Anstice of trying to hide the heart risks of Vioxx because Merck needed a major new drug to replace the sales of six others on which patents were soon to expire.
Brock showed the jury the Vioxx label that was updated to include data from the controversial Vigor study. He pointed out that it warned doctors to exercise "caution" in using Vioxx for patients with heart disease and contained tables of data showing the higher rate of "serious cardiovascular thrombotic events" for Vioxx users compared with those on naproxen.
Merck has said it believed the Vigor results signaled heart protective qualities of naproxen rather than increased risks from Vioxx -- an assessment questioned by many critics.
The Merck attorney highlighted a press release announcing the results of the Vigor study that also showed Vioxx caused fewer gastrointestinal problems than other pain killers.
"Are you telling them only about the GI data? You are telling the whole thing, aren't you?" Brock asked Anstice. "Yes, we are," the Merck executive replied.

Vioxx long-term use trial underway in New Jersey

Opening statements began Monday in the second New Jersey state trial against New Jersey-based Merck [corporate website] over their distribution of the painkiller Vioxx [Merck Vioxx Information Center website; JURIST news archive]. Although a New Jersey jury found Merck not liable [JURIST report] in a separate trial last year, in the consolidated case now at trial, plaintiffs allege that damage occurred through the long-term use of the drug, an element missing in the previous New Jersey case. Vioxx was pulled from the shelves after clinical tests showed that patients using the drug for more than 18 months faced increased risks of stroke and heart attack [FDA public health advisory]. AP has more.The plaintiff's lawyer in this action is the same who won a $253 million verdict [JURIST report] in the first Vioxx state claim in Texas, which is currently being reviewed on appeal. Merck was cleared of responsibility in the first federal trial [JURIST report; original complaint]; another trial is currently underway [JURIST report] in Rio Grande City, Texas. Merck faces over 9,650 lawsuit in state and federal court over Vioxx, though the current New Jersey case is the first where the facts involve long term use of the drug.

Merck Sued by Doctor Who Prescribed Vioxx, Had Own Heart Attack

March 9 (Bloomberg) --A doctor who will testify today against Merck & Co. in a trial over the company's Vioxx painkiller had a heart attack after taking the drug and is suing the company.
Dr. John Braun, 52, sued Merck and blames his 2004 heart attack on the Vioxx he said he took for 21 months. Braun will testify by videotape today at the trial of a lawsuit brought John McDarby, 77, who had a heart attack in 2004 after taking Vioxx for four years. Braun prescribed Vioxx for McDarby.
`I would never have taken the drug, nor would I have prescribed it to any of my patients, had I known of any of the risks,'' Braun said late yesterday in an interview. ``You assume that when someone comes in to the office with literature about the drug that what they're telling you is true. You assume this drug is safe.''
McDarby's suit in Atlantic City, New Jersey is the fifth to go to trial over claims that Vioxx caused heart attacks and strokes. Merck, the No. 4 U.S. drugmaker, withdrew Vioxx when a study showed it doubled the risk of heart attacks after 18 months of use. Merck faces 10,000 lawsuits. It won two cases at trial and lost one.
A jury is considering lawsuits by McDarby and another man, Thomas Cona, 59, who each blame their heart attack on the drug. Aside from McDarby's case, another trial is under way in Texas. Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, set aside $970 million for legal costs and nothing for liability.
Lawyers for McDarby and Merck agreed jurors won't be told about Braun's heart attack because it might prejudice them. Braun has said he no longer sees Merck sales representatives because they weren't truthful about Vioxx's risks before the company withdrew the drug in September 2004.
Patients' Claims
McDarby and Cona claim Merck failed to warn doctors of the cardiovascular risks of Vioxx. Merck says it properly researched the drug and warned of its risks, and Cona and McDarby had heart attacks because of their health risks, not Vioxx. McDarby, a diabetic with arthritis, had coronary artery disease, and high blood pressure and cholesterol, Merck says.
Braun, who treated McDarby for five years, has been a family practitioner in Oradell, New Jersey, for 18 years, court records show. He began taking free samples of Vioxx in November 2002 for neck pain, according to his pre-trial deposition on Feb. 1. He liked Vioxx so much he gave it to his wife and sister, he said.
Braun said he continued to take Vioxx and found it more effective than two Pfizer Inc. painkillers, Bextra and Celebrex. He said he arrived on Aug. 10, 2004, at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, New Jersey, to see patients. His heart attack there followed a ventricular fibrillation, or chaotic heartbeat.
`On the Floor'
``I was found on the floor in V fib arrest,'' said Braun, a father of three young children, in his deposition. ``Bleeding from the lip and unconscious and no pulse.''
Five days later, he woke up at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, New Jersey, with no memory of the attack, he said. A cardiologist had removed a clot ``the size of a Grand Canyon'' in his left anterior descending artery, he said.
An attorney for Merck, Chuck Harrell, said both sides agreed that the McDarby jurors won't hear about Braun's heart attack.
``By stipulation of the parties, Dr. Braun won't be asked about his pending lawsuit or his use of Vioxx because it's not relevant to the issues in this case,'' said Harrell, of Butler, Snow, O'Mara, Stevens & Cannada in Jackson, Mississippi.
Braun said he had no family history of heart disease and no other risk factors. He concluded Vioxx caused his heart attack, his deposition said. His suit, filed last May, is one of 5,100 before Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee. She is presiding at the Cona and McDarby trial, which began March 6.
220 Visits
McDarby's attorney, Robert Gordon, told jurors that Braun got 220 visits from 17 Merck sales representatives about Vioxx between 1999 and 2004. Jurors heard testimony that thousands of sales representatives gave away millions of free samples of Vioxx during the biggest drug launch campaign in the history of Merck.
Braun said in a Feb. 9 deposition that he saw two Merck representatives a week. He said the sales force reassured him that Vioxx was safe after a March 2000 study found that patients on the drug had five times more heart attacks than those on another painkiller, naproxen.
Braun said the sales representatives never told him that Vioxx increased the risk of heart attacks or blood clots. Gordon said that two of those drug representatives are expected to testify today about visiting Braun.
The cases are Cona v. Merck & Co., L-3553-05 and McDarby v. Merck & Co., L-1296-05, and Braun v. Merck, L-2911-05, Superior Court, New Jersey (Atlantic City).

Vioxx Trial Underway in Merck's Home State

The legal fight over Vioxx returned to New Jersey on Monday, with the lawyer for a man who blames his heart attack on the blockbuster arthritis drug telling jurors that executives with manufacturer Merck & Co. knowingly concealed its risks from consumers.
Mark Lanier, the attorney for Thomas Cona, 59, said the use of Vioxx made people with risk factors for heart disease "walking time bombs" but Merck withheld information about the drug to make more money selling it.
"They decided to cut corners. That's basically what this case is about," Lanier said in opening statements.
Cona's case is being tried along with that of John McDarby, 77, of Park Ridge, N.J., because the two cases have been consolidated by the judge overseeing more than 5,000 state court cases against Merck.
Lawyers for McDarby and Merck were to give their openings later Monday.
So far, Merck has won two Vioxx cases and lost a third in courtrooms around the country. Another trial is ongoing in Rio Grande City, Texas.
Merck, which is based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., sold the drug beginning in 1999 as a pain reliever for arthritis and osteoarthritis sufferers who found other pain drugs too harsh on the stomach.
The company pulled it off the market in September 2004 after a clinical study showed it doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes after 18 months' use.
More than 9,650 lawsuits over Vioxx have been filed in state and federal courts, but the Cona-McDarby trial is the first to involve plaintiffs who allege long-term use. Cona's lawyers say he took it for 22 months; McDarby's say he took it for four years.
Merck says the men had other risk factors for heart disease and that Vioxx can't be blamed. The company also contends that Cona's medical records don't support the long-term use allegation.
In the last New Jersey trial, a jury absolved Merck of liability for an Idaho postal worker who suffered a heart attack after taking Vioxx for only two months.
But Cona's Texas attorney Lanier won a $253 million jury verdict for the widow of a Wal-Mart produce manager who died of a heart attack while taking Vioxx. That verdict is expected to be reduced on appeal.
New Jersey Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee planned to use a pair of chess clocks to enforce time limits agreed upon by lawyers for Merck, Cona and McDarby. The plaintiffs' attorneys will get a total of 40 hours to present their cases, not counting opening statements and closing arguments. Merck will get 35 hours.

Fresh scrutiny after asbestos presentations

Please provide any information you think may be helpful to mesothelioma victimd and their familiesThe dust kicked up by two recent asbestos studies contradicting federal Environmental Protection Agency results in 2004 got another pass from concerned residents during a special meeting at the El Dorado Hills Community Services District Pavilion.RJ Lee group chief analyst Drew Van Orden and Network Environmental Systems industrial hygienist Jennifer Bailey took turns presenting their respective studies. The presentations were followed by a spirited hour-long question and answer session during which residents made pointed comments about the results.Despite El Dorado County Office of Education Superintendent Vicki Barber's statement that "this is not an opportunity for other positions to be put forth," the warning occasionally got lost in the discussion.It was the school district that sought a second opinion on the county's asbestos problem after the EPA found hazardous levels at Oak Ridge High School and other sites.Partnering with the National Sand, Stone and Gravel Association, the district commissioned RJ Lee Group to evaluate the EPA results by testing three school sites and one park site. Oak Ridge High School was not re-tested.The company's ties to the building industry and the asbestos crisis in Libby, Montana has since raised questions among critics about the veracity of the results.
Arguing that the EPA's method couldn't distinguish between asbestos and non-asbestos amphiboles, Van Orden said 63 to 86 percent of the amphibole fibers identified as asbestos could not be because of their high aluminum content. Nor was asbestos found in the soil samples it took from the EPA."We found amphiboles, we found hornblende, but we didn't find any asbestos fibers" in the 21 split samples RJ Lee examined, Van Orden told attendees. "That's not to say there isn't amphibole asbestos here in El Dorado County."The latter was a statement that would be repeated by Van Orden and Bailey multiple times, highlighting for attendees the limitations of each study.While NES found lower levels of asbestos at three community park ball fields in El Dorado Hills, Bailey cautioned against drawing comparisons between the NES and EPA results because of the marked differences in testing methods."We're not trying to duplicate the EPA sampling ... or the activity based sampling (performed by the EPA)," Bailey said. NES only had a fraction of the operating budget EPA used in its 2004 study.After the presentations, asbestos expert Dr. Art Langer raised the issue of RJ Lee's involvement in the Libby asbestos crisis, saying, "Many of these arguments were made during the WR Grace lawsuit and weren't thought highly of."Van Orden disputed the claim, calling Langer's statement "a simple fabrication," because the courts didn't address issues regarding low levels of asbestos.While Libby had a heavy population of asbestos and non-asbestos amphibole particles, Van Orden said his study only found the latter in El Dorado County."There's so much aluminum in there, it can't possibly be asbestos," he said.El Dorado Hills resident Chris Anaya argued Van Orden's point about the aluminum content, saying, "I don't care what we call it or what the legal definition is ... my concern is, Is there something deadly in the air that may affect my children?"In answer to another question, Van Orden said, "Our expertise is not in toxicology.""There's very little research on the health effects associated with low concentrations of asbestos," Bailey added. "These are some things that need to be further evaluated."With this uncertainty persisting, Langer asked the two presenters what types of tests they would like to see as residents."I personally would like to see more toxicological studies," Bailey answered.As Barber noted for some of the frustrated attendees - many of them hearing the presentations for the first time - asbestos science is "an emerging field."Calling for "good science," Barber said further studies were needed to address potential health issues like mesothelioma, "as well as taking a look at the economic feasibility of the issues before us."

Give us back the £152k you got for husband's death

A NORTH Wales widow faces a legal challenge over a £152,000 asbestos compensation pay-out. In what is being billed as a landmark ruling, a French company ordered to make the pay-out will argue compensation should be shared between previous employers.
The case will be heard in the House of Lords on Monday.
Sylvia Barker was awarded the money after her 57-year-old husband, Vernon, died of asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma in 1996, after working at Shotton steelworks.
Between 1960 and 1968, Mr Barker was "heavily, regularly and frequently" exposed to asbestos dust.
Mrs Barker, of Wood Lane, Pen y Maes, Holywell, has already fought off one bid to strip her of the payment at the Appeal Court.
Four years ago the insurance companies lost their case in the House of Lords when they argued cancer, in theory, could be triggered by just one asbestos fibre, making it near impossible to prove an employee contracted the dis-ease in just one place.
The House of Lords found against the insurance companies, but gave them leave to appeal.
The insurance companies are now arguing that if the worker could have contracted the disease in more than one place of employment the compensation bill should be shared out.
Lawyers for asbestos claimants are concerned a shared compensation bill could include now defunct companies, resulting in reduced payments to claimants and their families.
Mr and Mrs Barker had been married for almost 30 years when former labourer Mr Barker died.
The courts were told Mr Barker was most exposed over a six-month period while cleaning up the galvanising section at Shotton Steel.
Mrs Barker won her award at the High Court, but St Gobain argued the High Court was legally wrong to hold it responsible for the death of Mr Barker, and the issue went before the Appeal Court.
St Gobain said Mr Barker worked for another company for six weeks in 1958.
The firm claimed he was also exposed to asbestos dust when working as a self-employed plasterer between 1968 and 1989 and could have suffered the eventually fatal exposure at any point in his working life.

Mired in asbestos

When Tommy Malot founded an environmental cleanup company five years ago, it made sense to his customers and to his accountant.
Among the Central Point business’ major components was asbestos abatement and removal.
In the years since, Malot discovered even a remote association with asbestos can be financially vexing given the mass of litigation that has piled up for nearly four decades.
Last month, Malot journeyed to Capitol Hill where he asked a Senate panel to support legislation that would establish a $140 billion industry-financed trust fund. The Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2005 bill by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., would push tens of thousands of asbestos-exposure claims out of the court system and allow victims to directly apply for compensation.
"We never produced, installed or sold any asbestos related material, and yet even our small, local company has been threatened with the potential of lawsuits," Malot told a congressional committee. "Of particular concern is that the legal system is now focusing on businesses which, like ours, are not responsible for the problem. Yet sympathetic juries are awarding multi-million dollar settlements to individuals who have yet to show any symptoms of any disease."
The bill failed a procedural test by one vote in February, but appears back on its way to the floor according to a March 1 report in CongressDaily AM.
"The threat of getting sued scares small-business owners to even be in this kind of work," Malot said. "We’re in this business to remove product so (customers) don’t injure themselves or anyone around them. If we can’t do it, then people are going to do it wrong and expose others to harm."
Asbestos, made from silicate minerals, is used in many industrial processes because of its fire-resistant properties. Easily inhaled asbestos fibers, however, can cause an incurable cancer called mesothelioma. It can also impair lung function without causing cancer.
During its heyday, asbestos was a standard ingredient in the making of thousands of products including textiles, auto brake linings, insulation and ship hulls.
"I’m regulated so highly by the state and federal government that it’s unbelievable," Malot said. "But if something is done wrong, somebody should pay for it. What I’m trying to do is to get money to people who deserve it."
A RAND Corp. study released in May 2005 found that more than 730,000 people in the United States filed compensation claims for asbestos-related injuries through the end of 2002, costing businesses and insurance companies more than $70 billion.
According to the Cato Institute, the first claims were filed in 1966 and lawsuits against asbestos manufacturers and suppliers shot up in the early 1970s, even as use of the product was phased out.
The RAND report said claimants have received about 42 cents of every dollar spent on asbestos litigation, according to the study, while 31 cents has gone to defense costs and 27 cents to plaintiffs’ attorneys. At least 8,400 entities were named as defendants in asbestos claims through 2002. At least 73 companies named in a substantial number of asbestos claims filed for bankruptcy through mid-2004.
Even companies on the periphery of the industry have been hit hard.
Crown Cork & Seal Co., a Philadelphia bottle cap and can maker with holdings in Oregon, acquired a company with an insulation division in 1963 before spinning it off three months later.
The company said in June 2002, its $7 million investment in Mundet Cork Co. has resulted in an expense of more than $350 million in asbestos-related payments. That was after a Pennsylvania court dismissed 376 pending asbestos cases against the company.
"Crown is simply in the bottle cap and can business," William Gallagher, General Counsel for Crown, told Productiondaily.com in 2002. "Yet, through the technical application of corporate merger successor liability law, thousands of asbestos claims have been filed against Crown because of Crown’s brief connection nearly 40 years ago with Mundet Cork Co., a manufacturer of cork-lined bottle caps that had also owned a small insulation division."

Emergency workers face asbestos threat

Please provide any information you think may be helpful to mesothelioma victimd and their familiesThe personnel at risk include members of the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) unit, who were told last week that they may have contracted life-threatening illnesses after training on a demolition site at Holsworthy Army Barracks.
The site was set up to simulate rescues in the event of a terrorist attack or natural disaster and has been regularly used by fire brigade, ambulance, police and army personnel since 2004.
Asbestos has been found in huge piles of rubble, which are used to resemble collapsed city buildings.
Emergency workers who spent up to three weeks at a time crawling through the rubble were contacted by their department chiefs last week and told the exposure could kill them.
The calls last week left senior personnel devastated. Asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma can take decades to appear and it may be 30 years before the emergency workers can be cleared of infection.
Even Premier Morris Iemma has visited the site he has been warned he has a low-level risk of exposure.
NSW Fire Brigades chief Greg Mullins said last night he was reviewing a scientific assessment of the site and was talking to his own staff, ambulance, police, the Defence Department and unions about the mass exposure.
The Daily Telegraph understands the rescuers have been divided into categories A, B and C, with category A the most severely affected.
Fifteen of the ambulance service's special casualty access team's 40 members have been diagnosed as category A.
An unknown number of support staff including police, doctors, nurses and hazardous material personnel have also been exposed at the facility.
Mr Iemma, listed as a category C, walked around the site during a visit to Holsworthy in September, soon after becoming Premier.
Mr Mullins issued a press release last week stating asbestos had been found at the site, which was used by personnel "from time to time".
But today the real story behind the bureaucratic bungle can be revealed.
Following interviews with the state's top-level emergency personnel, it has been established that:
NO proper tests were done at the site before it became a training ground for hundreds of top-level rescuers in 2004;
PERSONNEL were kept in the dark for up to a year about the asbestos before being told last week;
NSW public officials and a host of ministers may have been exposed;
AMBULANCE chief Greg Rochford and Mr Mullins have been at the site and must face a health clearance; and
THE Dust Diseases Tribunal is conducting an investigation into the long-term impact the mass exposure could have on emergency services in NSW.
The Fire Brigade took over the training site from the Defence Department in 2004 after an audit found the state's emergency services were not adequately prepared for a terrorist attack.
Mr Mullins told Mr Rochford about the asbestos last week.
WorkCover inspectors were called in to shut down the site last week.

Thousands sign up to urge action over 'cruel' disease

Please provide any information you think may be helpful to mesothelioma victimd and their familiesA LEEDS MP visited 10 Downing Street to hand over a charter signed by more than 14,000 people calling for action on a deadly asbestos-linked cancer.
The charter, urging more support for mesothelioma victims and their families, was presented to launch the Action Mesothelioma Campaign which is to run for a year and is backed by a range of organisations, including the British Lung Foundation. Leeds West Labour MP John Battle, whose constituency was home to the Armley J W Roberts asbestos factory which left a legacy of asbestos-related illness in the city, was in the delegation, along with Russell Hancock, son of Armley campaigner June Hancock. Mesothelioma victim Mrs Hancock won a legal battle for compensation from the factory's owners, Turner Newall, before she died in 1997.The Action Mesothelioma patient charter calls for faster diagnosis, better treatment and care services, more funding for research and measures to prevent future asbestos exposure.Mr Battle said: "This cruel disease kills one person every five hours in the UK and this figure is set to peak over the next decade. This campaign is vital to raise awareness of the condition and also the potential danger that people could face from asbestos in their homes when undertaking DIY projects.For more information about the British Lung Foundation, or Action Mesothelioma, visit www.lunguk.org or call the BLF Helpline on 08458 50 50 20.

Ringing out a death warning

One by one, members of the elite ambulance and fire brigade rescue units were told the news they had never expected or wanted to hear.
They had been exposed to asbestos diseases – the silent killer almost impossible to detect – during training exercises at Holsworthy army barracks.
These are the men who are trained to go where others won't dare in the event of disaster.
"I just couldn't believe it. You do this dangerous work for a living but you never expect something like this to get you," a rescuer who asked not to be named said.
"The bosses got on the phone and told everyone who had spent time crawling around Holsworthy in the past two years that they might come down with this illness over the next 20 years."
As a mark of their courage, the cream of the fire brigade and ambulance service are powering through their ordeal.
There have been no reports of anyone taking sick leave. They are going about their work, going home to their families and hoping for the best.
There is anger in the ranks for two reasons: many officers who had not set foot on the site for up to a year were not told about the problem until their superiors called out of the blue last week.
They also want to know why tests were not conducted at the site two years ago, before the state's most qualified rescuers began crawling around the rubble.
The potential victims are not your average firefighters and paramedics. They are members of elite units such as Urban Service and Rescue (USAR), set up to deal with mass casualties in the event of a September 11-type bombing on the streets of Sydney.
Spare a thought for the close-knit Special Casualty Access Team of paramedics attached to the ambulance service.
Out of its 40 members, 15 were told last week that they had been listed as the most-at-risk "Category A" patients.
Before it turned out to be riddled with asbestos, the training site at Holsworthy was the ideal setting for rescue crews to practise.
The site was specially designed to resemble a city landscape torn apart by a natural disaster such as an earthquake or the aftermath of a terrorist attack.
The emergency workers have no choice but to wait. Asbestos diseases such as the fatal mesothelioma – cancer of the lung lining – can take 30 years to develop.
"The bosses will say it's under control, but you know what? They have no idea how it will turn out," one of the potential victims said.

DID SCHOOL ASBESTOS KILL HEAD?

exclusive By Phil ColemanChief reporterA CARLISLE primary school is at the centre of a health scare after its former headteacher died from an asbestos-related cancer.Governors at St Cuthbert’s Roman Catholic school have sought advice from Cumbria County Council on organising an asbestos survey after Ian White, 66, died from mesothelioma on Christmas Day.In the weeks since Mr White’s death, it is believed other staff at the school were concerned enough to arrange for medical tests.North-east Cumbria coroner David Osborne has alerted the Health & Safety Executive to Mr White’s death, and the potential presence of asbestos in the school.Mr White retired as school head nearly five years ago after working there for 18 years. A retired caretaker from the school has confirmed that ceilings in the school were made from asbestos tiles.Mr White’s widow Eileen said the only asbestos she knew that her husband could have been exposed to was that in St Cuthbert’s, in Victoria Road, Botcherby.The school, which has around 140 pupils, has refused to confirm or deny whether the tiles are still there. Cumbria County Council confirmed that governors recently sought advice on organising an asbestos survey. The tests, to include checks for airborne asbestos, were due to go ahead last month.Carlisle pensioner Paul Blackshaw worked as the school’s caretaker until September 1998.With the exception of recently built areas in St Cuthbert’s, the asbestos tiles were used throughout the school, said Mr Blackshaw.He recalled staff being advised to avoid using drawing pins in the ceiling for fear of releasing dust.Mr Blackshaw said safety experts who checked the tiles in the 1990s pronounced them safe because their underside was sealed with paint.“It’s an established fact that they were asbestos,” said Mr Blackshaw, 70.“The question of their safety was investigated by the building and design department of the education authority at the county council.“The tiles were given a clean bill of health. Provided they were not disturbed unduly, the asbestos dust which was presumably above shouldn’t have got into the building below.“One member of staff was particularly concerned, and as far as I know that’s why she left. I was caretaker there for eight years and knew that ceiling pretty intimately. In my time there, I actually removed the tiles at times and replaced them.“When the security system was being installed I helped the installer put the wires through the roof space.“The electrician and myself didn’t even use breathing masks. I’ve heard some school staff have been for tests, and I’m wondering whether I should.”A dedicated headteacher, Mr White regularly spent time in the school out of hours, when he would do simple jobs such as decorating.At her home in Stanwix, his widow Eileen told the News & Star: “Even if there is a slight possibility that the asbestos there was responsible for Ian’s illness, it should be removed.“Ian always put the safety and welfare of his staff and pupils first and it’s what he would have wanted.”An inquest into Mr White’s death has been opened and adjourned by north east Cumbria coroner David Osborne.The cause of death was confirmed as mesothelioma.A spokesman for Cumbria County Council said the authority has an agreement to give health and safety advice and information to all Cumbrian schools.He added: “Even though St Cuthbert’s School is not controlled by the local education authority, we were approached by them regarding an asbestos survey in the school and Cumbria County Council recommended they carry out a ‘level 2’ survey including air clearance tests, which we understand the school arranged for last month.”Between 1998 and 2000 ‘level 1’ checks were carried out throughout schools in Cumbria. This involved visual checks for items such as broken tiles.In 2004, following a change in the regulations covering asbestos at work, Type 2 asbestos surveys have been carried out in all schools across the country.The spokesman added: “It’s an ongoing programme and all but 18 schools in Cumbria have now been checked.“All schools carry an asbestos register detailing where there is asbestos in the school – so any contractors working in the schools are aware.”A Health & Safety Executive spokesman said: “HSE has been made aware by the coroner of the death of a former headmaster at St Cuthbert’s and the potential presence of a quantity of asbestos at the school.“HSE staff will be making enquiries to ensure that any asbestos material found is being properly managed and does not pose any health risks.”The News & Star invited the school to comment but chairman of the governors Doug Hulme declined. Current headteacher John Turner said today: “We feel it’s not appropriate to make any comment.”Last year, Dr Peter Mustchin, a consultant physician at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle, warned that asbestos-related illness was “an epidemic in the making.”

Dying asbestos victims fear new court challenge will slash payouts

A landmark legal challenge starts in the House of Lords on 13 March in an attempt to limit payouts for the most deadly form of asbestos-related cancer.
Employers hope to overturn existing law by arguing that the cost of compensating mesothelioma sufferers should be apportioned between companies if a worker was exposed at more than one workplace. At present, full damages can be claimed against any company where there has been exposure and there is more than one defendant company.
Stephen Buckley, 52, an engineer from Dukingfield, Cheshire, is living on borrowed time. Two years ago he was given nine months to live when he was diagnosed with the invariably terminal cancer caused by asbestos. In 1968, at the age of 15, he left school to become an apprentice at the ICI plant in Hyde, near Manchester. 'I was just a lad when I started there and one of my first jobs was to strip the boilers down. Our overalls would be covered in this white dust but we never gave it a second thought,' he recalls. 'The air was heavy with it.'
Tragically, that deadly dust was asbestos. When Buckley began as an apprentice, he recalls having no safety gear - not even a mask. 'Safety wasn't an issue in those days. People used to say, "You'll be alright as long as you stay away from the blue".' This was the even more dangerous blue asbestos.
Every year, about 1,800 people in Britain die from mesothelioma, and that number is expected to peak at about 3,000 in 2020. Compensation is low, with many victims and their families receiving in the region of £150,000.
In the landmark Fairchild case four years ago, insurers attempted to refute claims. It was argued that the cancer could in theory be triggered by just one asbestos fibre, and so someone who had worked with asbestos, and had more than one employer, could not prove where they had got the disease. The insurers went on to argue that the responsibility could not be shared between them because cancer was an 'all or nothing' condition.
It was a battle that went all the way to the highest court, where the Law Lords ruled against the insurers. They held that any asbestos exposure that materially contributed to the disease added to the risk and caused it.
The latest legal challenge concerns three test cases (known as Barker v St Gobain Pipelines). In the lead case the widow, Sylvia Barker, was awarded £152,000 after her husband Vernon died of the cancer eight years earlier. The courts were told that between 1960 and 1968 he had been 'heavily, regularly and frequently' exposed to asbestos dust while working at the Shotton Steelworks on Deeside for John Summers and Sons (the French-owned St Gobain is the legal successor).
In a complete about-turn from the insurers' previous stance, it will be argued that if there is more than one employer, compensation should be split between them all.
The insurer Norwich Union is watching Barker closely. 'The case is about seeking clarity after Fairchild,' says Dominic Clayden, head of technical claims at NU. 'That case did not deal with apportionment of damages between multiple defendants.'
According to Anthony Coombs, a solicitor who specialises in asbestos disease cases, a ruling in favour of St Gobain could affect many of his terminally ill clients. 'If your job with one employer involved more than enough asbestos exposure to give you mesothelioma but you had also worked with asbestos for another employer that's gone bust, your compensation will be reduced,' he says. 'This may leave you with very little, after the benefits from the government are taken off.'
Michael Eason, a 62-year-old electrical engineer, died last April from mesothelioma. 'He was such a fit man, never smoked and never had anything wrong with him,' recalls his wife Barbara. 'He retired at the beginning of 2003 and was really looking forward to the future. He was hoping to be a Justice of the Peace.'
Barbara says her husband went to see his doctor complaining of 'a slight cough and some breathing difficulties'. The family was devastated to discover he had cancer. 'He went downhill so fast and the pain and suffering he went through was terrible,' she says. Eason died three months after he was first diagnosed.
More than 40 years before, he had briefly worked in a number of places where he could have been exposed, including a power station and a chemical works. Barbara and her son, Paul, 34, have received no money from Michael's employers and are concerned as to how this week's challenge might affect any payout.
'Mike used to say he knew he wouldn't benefit from any compensation but he would be happy if Paul and I could. All I really want is my husband back,' she says. 'But I do think somebody has to pay because, of all the cancers people get, this is one that could have been avoided.'
Anthony Coombs reckons that the ruling could affect at least half of his clients suffering from mesothelioma. He estimates that a fifth of all sufferers cannot sue at all because their employers have gone bankrupt and no one can find the insurers, and that almost a third cannot sue all their employers.
'It is unfair to punish the victim when the insurers who took the premiums are still there hiding behind the employers that have gone bust,' Coombs reckons.
Stephen Buckley had not had a day off work in 12 years before being diagnosed with mesothelioma two years ago. He immediately married Angela, his partner of 27 years, because both knew what he had in store.
'It is like being sentenced to death for something that happened to you years ago - in my case, when I was a teenager,' he says.
So far, he has received an interim payment of £70,000 from ICI but he is concerned about where the legal challenge will leave his wife after he dies.
'I don't know how much time I've got left to live, and this claim needs to be sorted out,' he says. 'Whenever I read about mesothelioma it is always about how much compensation costs and what the companies are going to do to cut the bill. I got this disease when I was 15 years old at work. I have always worked and I've never cost anyone a bean. There are times when people should just shut up and pay up.'
The unknown killer
Last Monday was Action Mesothelioma Day, marking the start of a year-long campaign to raise awareness about the deadly chest cancer that develops up to 40 years after exposure to asbestos.
According to new research by the British Lung Foundation, only 6 per cent of people in the UK know what the disease is, yet the cancer kills one person every five hours in the UK. This figure is set to peak over the next decade, with as many as 3,000 people dying from it every year.
The rising number of deaths from the condition is linked to the use of asbestos in the building industry up until the mid 1980s. The time between exposure to asbestos and developing mesothelioma can range from 15 to 60 years, with death coming within two years of diagnosis.

ASBESTOS-RELATED CANCER COMPENSATION CASE OPENS

Please provide any information you think may be helpful to mesothelioma victimd and their familiesLawyers are about to start legal action after an ex-councillor from a village near Bath died of cancer. Former Timsbury councillor Bill Brown died in August last year, at the age of 77, having suffered from mesothelioma, a chest cancer that develops 15 to 60 years after exposure to asbestos.His widow, Iris, 79, who lives in Farmborough, said: "He had not been too well back at Christmas 2004."It was not until February last year, when the doctor called to tell us he had cancer and that they thought it was through the asbestos."It was very sad to see him sink so low, but he had such good care."Mr Brown worked as an engineer for Bristol paper and packaging firm DRG, where he rose to supervisor and later manager. He retired in 1988.Mrs Brown said her late husband came into contact with asbestos while at work.She said: "He had to supervise the work of the men stripping down various components in the factory. All the engine parts were clad with asbestos."Brigitte Chandler, a partner at Charles Lucas and Marshall solicitors in Swindon, is handling the claim.Ms Chandler said the company Mr Brown worked for no longer existed as it was."It is their insurers that we are dealing with," she said."They have been notified about the claim and we hope to issue proceedings shortly."Meanwhile, Monday saw the launch of the first Action Mesothelioma Day.According to new research by the British Lung Foundation (BLF), only six per cent of people in the UK know what the disease is, yet it kills one person every five hours in the UK. This figure is set to peak over the next decade.The rising number of deaths from the condition is linked to the use of asbestos in the building industry up until the mid 1980s.The time between exposure to asbestos and developing mesothelioma can range from 15 to 60 years, with death coming within two years of diagnosis.The aim of Action Mesothelioma Day was to raise the profile of the condition through a series of events and the presentation to the Government of a Patient Charter signed by more than 10,000 people.However, the increasing number of people carrying out do-it-yourself and home improvements has also sparked fears that people could be exposing themselves to asbestos which was used as insulation materials in homes built between the 1950s and '80s.Dame Helena Shovelton, chief executive of the BLF, said: "Mesothelioma destroys the lives of its victims and their families."The time between diagnosis and death is short and in the vast majority of cases, people suffer a tortured and agonising death."John McClean, national health and safety officer for the GMB trade union, added: "For too long sufferers of mesothelioma have been the hidden cancer victims in this country."A spokesman for insurance company Zurich said: "At this time we extend our condolences to Mr Brown's family for their loss."Our claims department is in contact with the family's solicitor and currently awaits further information relating to the claim as requested from the broker. This is required in order for us to conclude our investigations and bring the claim to an appropriate resolution."

Rally salutes victims of the ‘hidden killer’

Rochdale families who had lost relations, friends or colleagues to asbestos-related cancers.
Mr Addy said: "The problem is that mesothelioma can lie undetected for many years. That’s why it’s called the hidden disease. But when it is finally diagnosed, the end can come very quickly indeed for its victims."
He acknowleged that not all suffererers of mesothelioma would have worked at Turner’s.
Anyone who had been exposed to asbestos from their work, such as garage mechanics, painting contractors, engineers, construction workers, school teachers and even wives who might have washed their husband’s overalls, could have been affected.
"The fact is that more people die from asbestos cancer every year in the UK than road accidents.
"That is equivalent to a 9/11 tragedy every year in the UK until the middle of this century."
As Monday’s rally was going on, MPs were presenting the mesothelioma charter at 10 Downing Street, calling for more government research into treatments for asbestos-related cancers which, almost invariably, are terminal.
Local MP Jim Dobbin, whose constituency includes Castleton, Norden and Bamford, is also supporting the call.
He said: "This cruel disease kills one person every five hours in the UK and this figure is set to peak over the next decade.
"I hope the government will look closely at the mesothelioma charter and do all they can to address the issues it raises."
The Action Mesothelioma Charter has been signed by more than 14,000 people.
Dame Helena Shovelton, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, said: "Mesothelioma destroys the lives of its victims and their families.
"The time between diagnosis and death is short and in the vast majority of cases people suffer a tortuous and agonising death."

Asbestos-related deaths 54 higher than estimate for women living near Kubota factory

Please provide any information you think may be helpful to mesothelioma victimd and their familiesThe death rate from asbestos-related cancer among women living near a former Kubota Corp. factory here that made asbestos products was 54 times higher than the estimated death rate under population movement statistics, researchers have found.
Nara Medical University Prof. Norio Kurumatani and Shinji Kumagai, a senior researcher at the Osaka Prefectural Institute of Public Health, uncovered the high death rate from mesothelioma, a type of cancer caused by asbestos, in a joint epidemiological survey.
"We have not seen such a large and concentrated outbreak of mesothelioma, even on an international scale," one of the researchers said.
The researchers said it was likely there had been a high concentration of asbestos in the air around Kuboto's now defunct Kanzaki factory. They are set to report the finding at a meeting of the Japan Society for Occupational Health in Sendai on May 9.
In the survey, the researchers investigated people who had been living near the plant between 1957 and 1975, when it was using highly toxic blue asbestos, and analyzed data for 86 mesothelioma patients from the area who had no history of working with asbestos. Seventy-six of the patients have already died.
The estimated death rate between 1995 and 1999 for women who lived within a 300-meter radius of the factory, based on the mesothelioma death rate under vital population statistics, was 0.055 people. However, in actual fact three people died, bringing the death rate to a level 54.1 times higher than the estimate, researchers found.
Previous data released by Kurumatani and other researchers said that women who lived within a 500-meter radius of the factory faced 18 times the normal risk. Compared to that figure, the latest one is three times higher, indicating that people living close to the factory had a much higher chance of contracting mesothelioma.
The death rate for men who lived within a 300-meter radius of the plant was 11.7 times higher than the estimate during the period. Between 2000 and 2005, the death rate for men living within 300 meters of the factory was 17.8 times higher than the estimate, and for women it was 23.1 times higher. For those who lived between 300 and 600 meters away, the figures were 5 times higher for men and 10.8 times higher for women.
The reason the death rates for men were lower was that a higher percentage of men who died from work-related mesothelioma were included in vital population statistics that formed the basis for comparisons. Because of this, researchers said the rate for women was likely a more accurate reflection the effect the factory had on residents. (Mainichi)

Paradise lost, thank goodness

Plaintiffs attorneys used think that multi-million verdicts from Madison County juries were a lock. But the Anita O'Connell case is the latest evidence that this so-called plaintiffs paradise is becoming paradise lost.
A jury on Wednesday refused to give O'Connell, an 84-year-old woman dying of mesothelioma, any money in her asbestos case.
It's the second big fat zero. In a case tried in June, a widow whose husband died of mesothelioma also got nothing.
But it is a dramatic departure from the past. In asbestos trials held between 2000 and 2003, the judgments were $16 million, $34.1 million and $250 million.
Maybe jurors are fed up with people who don't live in Madison County -- O'Connell and the widow both were from Northern Illinois -- traipsing here in search of big judgments.
Maybe they are tired of dubious legal claims. The widow was suing GE, even though it didn't even make the product that contained the asbestos. O'Connell said she got the fatal lung cancer from laundering her son's clothes in the late 1960s and '70s after he used a compound that contained asbestos. Even if that sounded possible, testimony called into question whether the family business had even used the product.
Maybe they are embarrassed by their court's reputation as among the worst in the nation.
Whatever the reasons, it's great if plaintiffs attorneys now have to wonder what a Madison County jury will do. If the county isn't on their list the next time they go venue shopping, all the better.

Workers' disease meeting

A DEDICATED group of campaigners is fighting for the rights of victims of mesothelioma, better known as asbestos disease.
There are around 1,800 cases of the illness reported in Britain each year. This number is growing and will not peak for several years, because the disease develops at least 10 years after exposure to asbestos and sometimes as long as 40 or even 50 years after exposure.
The Cheshire Asbestos Victims Support group, based in Runcorn, has been supporting victims of asbestos disease and their families since 1992.
The not-for-profit support organisation is staffed by volunteers, most of whom are victims of asbestos disease themselves.
The group owns a respite care caravan in Rhyl, North Wales, where sufferers and their families are able to have respite holidays at the group's five star caravan bought in 1999 with charitable donations.
Group member Doreen Dellaway said: 'We need to create an awareness of this disease and to campaign for adequate research and treatment for those who have and will be unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with mesothelioma.'
Mesothelioma is a relatively rare form of cancer characterised by pain, weight loss and night sweats. Most victims die within 18 months of being diagnosed.
The disease responds poorly to surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
The only known cause of mesothelioma is unprotected exposure to asbestos fibres, in approximately 95% of cases.
Compensation in mesothelioma cases very often depends upon tracing the relevant employer or their insurers.
The most common exposure to asbestos is in the workplace. In January of this year, Runcorn man Clifford Thornhill was diagnosed with disease.
Mr Thornhill's mesothelioma has been caused by exposure to asbestos at work with the Manchester Ship Canal Company, based at their Old Quay yard in Runcorn off Mersey Road.
He worked as a fitter's labourer for the company between 1962 and 1985. Mr Thornhill said: 'More should be done to let people know how dangerous asbestos is.
'As part of my job I had to strip asbestos lagging off pipework in the engine rooms on the old steamer tug boats on the canal.
'It was a dirty job and the asbestos dust and debris got all over the place as I worked.
'I had no idea asbestos was dangerous - no-one warned us we were putting our health at risk.
On Monday, the British Lung Foundation organised several events around the country to raise awareness about the disease as part of Action Mesothelioma Day.
The Cheshire Support Group held a meeting at Runcorn Town Hall.
Speakers included the mayor of Halton, Peter Lloyd-Jones, Dr John Williams, consultant physician, and Elaine Sergeant, specialist lung cancer nurse, both from Halton Hospital, and Diana Fos from Thompsons solicitors.
Family and friends of sufferers of mesothelioma also gave their accounts of coping with the killer disease.
For more information about the Cheshire Asbestos Victims Support Group, ring 01928 576641 or e-mail enquiries@cavsg.co.uk

Most Recent Information and News About Mesothelioma On New Site

A new site launched by TidbitMedia.com (http://www.tidbitmedia.com) this week gives readers a new resource for an extensive variety of in-depth news and info associated with mesothelioma. The site, called AllMesotheliomaNews.com, can be viewed by following this link: http://www.allmesotheliomanews.com and will be updated daily with the freshest and most interesting morsels of mesothelioma news and updates. Articles will be put up with headlines and a concise blurb about what the article is associated with. This will be a convenient means for those who want to learn more about what mesothelioma is or those who just want to get further information regarding legal help in an easy-to-read arrangement. The site will be a valuable source for users who want to read the most recent mesothelioma news and updates in an efficient manner. The Web site's convenient layout will save readers valuable time without watering down the informational content. If a reader is only interested in reading articles associated with specific legal issues and advice, or any other related subjects, they can use the helpful search bar to look for those specific articles on the site. The simplicity of the articles and the capability to search the site for specific information will enable readers to save time whenever they want to read the latest information concerning mesothelioma. This enables them to spend more time checking other sites, find legal assistance, or do anything else they want to spend their newfound extra time on. AllMesotheliomaNews.com was created by TidbitMedia.com to conveniently meet readers with mesothelioma news and information presented in a format they want to read it. Articles are up for viewing on the site. For more information please contact pr@tidbitmedia.com

Increase in mesothelioma cases prompts call for checks

The Asbestos Diseases Society is urging anyone who has lived in or visited the town of Wittenoom in Western Australia's north-west to be checked by a doctor after an increase in the number of people being diagnosed with mesothelioma.
The society says nine people, mostly the children of those who worked in the town's asbestos mine, have been diagnosed with the incurable disease since last October.
Society president Robert Vojakovic says the mine closed in 1966 but a lot of people in their 40s are only now discovering they have the disease because of its long latency period.
"Being the mid 60s or maybe early 60s and now 40 years hence you know will be one of the most dangerous periods in time of people developing disease," he said.
The Health Department says it is aware that mesothelioma is being diagnosed in adults who lived in Wittenoom as children.
The department says it maintains a register to monitor cases of the disease in the community.

Balloons fly for asbestos group

Balloons fly for asbestos group Published on 27/02/2006
WIDOWS of shipyard workers who died from the deadly asbestos cancer mesothelioma watched as dozens of balloons soared heavenwards to launch a new support group today.Barrow Asbestos Related Disease Support (BARDS) will hold monthly sessions to help victims of asbestos-related diseases and their families. Dr Helen Clayson, clinical director of St Mary’s Hospice, has conducted a study into asbestos related diseases in Furness.Launching the group, she said: “Barrow has the highest incidence of mesothelioma in men in England per head of population, so it is the most risky place because of the shipyard.“We are looking forward to providing a comprehensive service for victims and relatives in the near future.”Today’s ceremony took place outside the new St Mary’s Hospice Day Centre in Hartington Street, which opens soon.

TAKING ACTION OVER CANCER

A man dying from asbestos-related cancer was due to visit Downing Street today (MON) to raise awareness of the killer disease.Michael Wells, from Market Harborough, suffers from mesothelioma, a chest cancer which develops up to 40 years after exposure to asbestos. He was exposed to asbestos while working in the plumbing industry in the 1960s.The 54-year-old is among more than 13,000 people who have signed a petition organised by the British Lung Foundation to mark Action Mesothelioma Day today.Michael's wife, Christine, is travelling to London with him to present the petition.She said: "If you tell people about it, they don't know what it is and they have never heard of it."There is compensation, but you have to fight for it and you have to fight for everything that you get."If you mention breast cancer to people, it is something everybody knows about, but when you mention mesothelioma, nobody knows."The most annoying thing is, all this could have been avoided."Last week, the Leicester Mercury told how the disease was set to claim hundreds of lives in Leicestershire. Doctors at Glenfield Hospital, the national centre for treatment of the disease, treated seven Leicestershire people for mesothelioma in 1993.This year, they expect to treat more than 60.The British Lung Foundation campaign is being backed by asbestos support groups, individuals with mesothelioma, doctors and solicitors.The aim is to get better care and treatment, improved protection for employees and more funding for research.Donna Castle from the British Lung Foundation said: "Nobody can say it, nobody has ever heard of it and they don't know it is caused by asbestos."She said: "If you live in a house built before 1980, you could be exposed to asbestos."What we are concerned about is that if people who are not aware of the potential danger start doing DIY in their houses, they could expose themselves and get mesothelioma in 50 years. It is generally a poor prognosis once the diagnosis comes through."Jan Orton's husband Eric installed insulation throughout the 1960s, but only became ill more than 30 years later.He died, aged 71, in 2003.Mrs Orton, who lives off Aylestone Road, Leicester, said: "There must be no end of people affected by this disease."People were ignorant about how dangerous asbestos was."