Son of Mesothelioma Victim Dies

This prediction is contained in a new report the Safe Work Australia Council agreed to post at its first meeting earlier this month. The council also created a Strategic Issues Group to write the planned model OSH act.

• Jun 26, 2009

The Safe Work Australia Council held its inaugural meeting in Sydney on June 10 and agreed to move ahead with the development of a model OHS act, forming a Strategic Issues Group and directing it to work on the bill immediately. The council also agreed to post a new report, "Mesothelioma in Australia: Incidence 1982 to 2005, Deaths 1997 to 2006," which predicts the incidence of mesothelioma will not peak until after 2010, possibly in 2014-2017, because of the long latency between asbestos exposure and diagnosis.

The report discusses how production, use, and control of asbestos have evolved in Australia and how workers' exposures to it varied among industries. There were 597 new cases diagnosed in 2005, an age-standardized rate of 2.8 per 100,000 Australians. In 1082, the earliest data available, 156 new cases and an age-standardized rate of 1.2 per 100,000 were recorded.

The next council meeting will take place Sept. 1. Tom Phillips, the council's chair, said its first meeting went well. "It is exciting to be a part of the important task of harmonizing occupational health and safety laws and improving workers' compensation arrangements across Australia," he said. "I am confident that the council, through its partnership of governments, employers, and employees, can work together to achieve improved health and safety outcomes for all Australians." The council has 15 members, including an independent chair, nine members representing the Commonwealth of Australia and each state and territory, two representing the interests of workers, two representing the interests of employers, and the group manager of Safe Work Australia, which is the executive agency that supports the council.

Mesothelioma in Australia May Peak in 2014

This prediction is contained in a new report the Safe Work Australia Council agreed to post at its first meeting earlier this month. The council also created a Strategic Issues Group to write the planned model OSH act.

• Jun 26, 2009

The Safe Work Australia Council held its inaugural meeting in Sydney on June 10 and agreed to move ahead with the development of a model OHS act, forming a Strategic Issues Group and directing it to work on the bill immediately. The council also agreed to post a new report, "Mesothelioma in Australia: Incidence 1982 to 2005, Deaths 1997 to 2006," which predicts the incidence of mesothelioma will not peak until after 2010, possibly in 2014-2017, because of the long latency between asbestos exposure and diagnosis.

The report discusses how production, use, and control of asbestos have evolved in Australia and how workers' exposures to it varied among industries. There were 597 new cases diagnosed in 2005, an age-standardized rate of 2.8 per 100,000 Australians. In 1082, the earliest data available, 156 new cases and an age-standardized rate of 1.2 per 100,000 were recorded.

The next council meeting will take place Sept. 1. Tom Phillips, the council's chair, said its first meeting went well. "It is exciting to be a part of the important task of harmonizing occupational health and safety laws and improving workers' compensation arrangements across Australia," he said. "I am confident that the council, through its partnership of governments, employers, and employees, can work together to achieve improved health and safety outcomes for all Australians." The council has 15 members, including an independent chair, nine members representing the Commonwealth of Australia and each state and territory, two representing the interests of workers, two representing the interests of employers, and the group manager of Safe Work Australia, which is the executive agency that supports the council.

New CD Uses Sounds, Imagery to Help Mesothelioma Patients Cope with Illness

Studies show "positive visualization" strengthens the immune system in patients with serious illness

Syracuse, NY 6/25/2009 04:08 下午 GMT (FINDITT)

 

Men and women who are suffering from cancer and other immune-compromising conditions, such as mesothelioma and asbestos disease, may benefit from a new audio self-help product based on the technique known as "guided imagery."

Designed by psychotherapist and social worker Belleruth Maparstek and composer Steven Kohn, the Healthy Immune System CD use music and soothing voices to create positive mental images and reduce stress in an effort to stimulate healing and immune response in patients fighting cancer, as well as those with viral and bacterial illnesses.

The CD is being marketed by Healthy Journeys, which distributes multiple guided imagery titles, including Fight Cancer, Optimizing Radiation Therapy, and Optimizing Chemotherapy.

Guided imagery is a technique which has been proven to elicit and stimulate immune response in patients facing a wide range of physical ailments. Relying on the mechanism of self-hypnosis, guided imagery has been shown in clinical trials to stimulate the body's natural defense mechanisms, resulting in heightened production of activated T-cells, which act as the core of the body's immune defense system.

The Healthy Journeys website defines guided imagery as, "a gentle but powerful technique that focuses and directs the imagination. It can be just as simple as an athlete's 10-second reverie, just before leaping off the diving board, imagining how a perfect dive feels when slicing through the water. Or it can be as complex as imagining the busy, focused buzz of thousands of loyal immune cells, scooting out of the thymus gland on a search and destroy mission to wipe out unsuspecting cancer cells. "

Because they are based on passive listening activities, guided imagery can be used by anyone, of any age or background, and can be easily incorporated as an adjunct to more complex treatment program.

According to the Mayo Clinic, which endorses the techniques, "the effect of guided vivid imagery sends a message to the emotional control center of the brain. From there, the message is passed along to the body's endocrine, immune and autonomic nervous systems. These systems influence a wide range of bodily functions, including heart and breathing rates and blood pressure."

The Healthy Immune System CD, as well as the complete line of Healthy Journey guided imagery CDs, can be found at the company's website, located at www.healthyjourneys.com. 

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that is caused by previous exposure to asbestos. This form of cancer has no known cure, so palliative and complementary mesothelioma treatment methods are the only recourse for individuals who suffer from this disease. Many US-based oncologists, including Dr. David Jablons of the University of California San Francisco Mt. Zion Medical Center, continue to study the development of malignant mesothelioma with the hope that they will one day discover a cure. For now, patients rely on anti-cancer drugs like Alimta® and the integration of complementary therapies to control pain and increase the quality of their daily lives.

Mesothelioma Litigation Points the Way for Nanotech Suits

Asbestos, a 20th century hazard created when manufacturers first discovered asbestos' insulating properties and then proceeded to incorporate it into everything from boiler insulation to hair dryers, points out the dangers for nanotechnology, at least according to the Investor Environmental Health Network, or IEHN.

The Investor Environmental Health Network, a joint partnership between investment managers who administer more than $25 billion in assets, is directed toward creating more transparency in corporate policies vis-à-vis toxic chemicals and defective products. Their aim is to improve the health, safety and financial well-being of Americans.

Asbestos, a natural mineral that occurs as crystalline or needle-like fibers in rock formations, comes in six different types: actinolite, amosite, anthophyllite, chrysotile, crocidolite and tremolite.

Used regularly until about 1989, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, restricted its domestic use to one percent of product by volume, asbestos is known to cause a number of serious diseases, ranging from asbestosis - a debilitating respiratory illness - to lung and digestive tumors, including mesothelioma.

Unlike some other toxins, the human body has no way to rid itself of asbestos fibers. Once inhaled or ingested, they remain in tissue causing irritations, or lesions, that frequently lead to illness.

Mesothelioma, a largely fatal cancer of the mesothelial tissue lining, the lungs and abdomen, tends to lie dormant for decades. By the time it is diagnosed, patients are rarely given more than a year to live, though 10 percent of those affected may survive up to five years.

A 2002 RAND report, which describes asbestos litigation as "...the longest running mass tort in U. S. history", with more than 600,000 individuals suing 6,000 companies (often more than one company per suit) for asbestos-related damages through 2000, has resulted in upward of 60 corporate bankruptcies since 1980, for a total cost of more than $54 billion.

Damages were awarded largely based on what IEHN identifies as eight practices which leave companies liable for product-related injury. These are: shortsightedness; concealed science; disclosing only a minimum of potential liabilities; according privilege in attorney-client relationships to conceal the level of liability; inconsistent estimating liability costs to shareholders; using hidden assumptions to minimize liability estimates; refusing to benchmark liabilities; and refusing to allow stakeholders to question, via annual proxies, the specific risks.

These, says the IEHN, are loopholes the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Accounting and Standards Board (FASB) - two entities which regulate corporate risk and financial reporting - need to close to insure that nanotechnology doesn't get itself into the sort of quagmire now faced by former asbestos product manufacturers. In fact, says the IEHN, the loopholes reflect a long-established and pervasive attitude of "don't ask/don't tell" which has already demonstrated it dangers via asbestos litigation and corporate bankruptcies.

In the early 20th century, manufacturers, physicians and workforce managers didn't know the dangers inherent in asbestos. By the time they discovered its destructive capacity, much damage had already been done.

The same is not true of nanotechnology, which has only been around for a decade in commercial use. A recent report out of Europe, by the Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), puts nanoparticles at the top of the list of substances which could pose new and even greater risks to workers.

Sources: The Rand Corporation, Huliq News

Israel City Has One of Highest Rates of Mesothelioma

The city of Nahariya and surrounding area on the northern coast of Israel has one of the highest concentrations of people with mesothelioma in the world, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports.

The incidence of the disease in the area reached 5.72 per 100,000 residents between 2002 and 2008, Dr. Micha Bar-Hana, director of the Israel Health Ministry's cancer registry, said at a conference at Petah Tikva's Medical Center. That compares to a rate of 3.55 cases per 100,000 people seven years ago.

Nahariya was home to the only asbestos plant in the nation, which was shut down in 1997. Mesothelioma develops several decades after exposure. Most cases involve people who worked with asbestos. Health experts expect the number of cases will go up in coming decades.

The area around Genoa, Italy, has the highest rate of asbestos-related cancer cases in the world with 5.8 cases per 100,000 people, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Dr. Avi Weiner, an expert in work-related diseases in Haifa, said that people who were in close contact with those who were directly exposed also were at risk of developing mesothelioma. He said he'd seen two cases of wives who became ill because their husband's clothes carried asbestos particles.

Nahariya Story

posted by Wade Rawlins at 2:35 PM

California Mesothelioma Law Firm Clapper, Patti, Schweizer & Mason Adds Two New Associates

Clapper, Patti, Schweizer & Mason, a national law firm with a focus on representing mesothelioma victims, has added two associates to help deepen the firm's expertise and resources in asbestos litigation. The additions expand the firm's professional staff to eight attorneys.

(PRWEB) June 28, 2009 -- Clapper, Patti, Schweizer & Mason, a national law firm with a focus on representing mesothelioma victims, has added two associates to help deepen the firm's expertise and resources in asbestos litigation. The additions expand the firm's professional staff to eight attorneys.

In the past 5 years, CPS&M has obtained more than $50 million in verdicts and settlements for clients throughout the U.S. from the asbestos companies.

Grant Walters obtained his J.D. from the John F. Kennedy School of Law and his B.A. in Political Science from the California State University, Hayward. He is admitted to practice in California is an active member of American Association for Justice, Consumer Attorneys of California, Marin County Bar Association and San Francisco County Bar Association. Prior to joining CPS&M, Grant was an associate with Brayton Purcell, LLP.
    
Bryn Gallagher obtained her J.D. from Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington and a B.A. in Political Science from Duke University, where she played varsity volleyball. She is admitted to practice in California. Prior to joining CPS&M, Bryn was an associate with Brayton Purcell, LLP.

As one of the original plaintiff-only asbestos firms in the nation, CPS&M currently represents a select number of mesothelioma victims in a variety of cases - including product liability, negligence, premises liability, admiralty and other toxic torts causes for relief.

About Clapper, Patti, Schweizer & Mason
CPS&M has always been dedicated to protecting the rights of individuals against corporations and only accepts cases on a contingency basis - meaning their clients never pay for services unless CPS&M successfully handles their matters. CPS&M has an outstanding track record and for more than 30 years has obtained generous compensation for the firm'™s clients. Visit Clapper, Patti, Schweizer & Mason for more information or call 1-800-440-4262.

Skydive Raised Funds for Mesothelioma Research

Cumbria, UK - June 26, 2009

A pair of siblings from the UK has organized a charity skydiving event in memory of their father, who passed away from mesothelioma. Bill Rawlinson died in October of 2007 after a struggle with pleural mesothelioma, caused by exposure to asbestos. He was 64. Now his children Paul and Claire have honored his memory by skydiving to raise money for the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma research fund.

The Mick Knighton Mesothelioma research fund is an organization dedicated to raising money for mesothelioma research. The organization also hopes to raise awareness about the rare cancer, and provides support to sufferers and their families. Mesothelioma is a cancer that aggressively attacks the body. It is so aggressive that it is not uncommon for sufferers to die mere months after being diagnosed. Asbestos exposure is the most common cause of mesothelioma, and can also cause lung cancer and asbestosis.

In the UK, the rates of mesothelioma cancer are a bit higher than here in the US, where approximately 2,500 individuals are diagnosed with the disease annually.

According to Paul, he did not come up with the idea. "It was my sister's idea to do a skydive...She's not really one to take part in extreme sports, but she wanted to do something out of the ordinary to show how committed we are." The siblings completed their dive on June 20th. Paul completed a solo jump with a static line parachute from 3,500 feet in the air. His sister Claire took on a tandem jump from a height of 14,000 feet. The brother and sister team hope to raise 2,000 (about $3,300 in US currency).

Mesothelioma activists from around the world can support Paul and Claire's efforts. Donations for the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma research fund in memory of Bill Rawlinson can still be made online by visiting www.justgiving.com/billrawlinson.

In the US, a number of oncologists who specialize in studying and treating mesothelioma cancer, including Stephen Yang, MD of the Johns Hopkins Division of Thoracic Surgery continue to push for a cure for this fatal disease.