Articles Posted in Mesothelioma Diagnosis

Mesothelioma is one of the most dangerous kinds of cancer and in most cases, patients face a terminal prognosis. In a recent report published in Science Daily, there are two groundbreaking trials that may give hope to Mesothelioma patients and their loved ones. While “waiting for a cure” is not an option for most patients, the possibility of a new treatment option is hopeful.

According to the report, University of Leiscester researchers are spearheading two major trials to treat mesothelioma, a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Our Massachusetts mesothelioma attorneys are dedicated to helping victims and their families protect their rights and pursue rightful compensation for asbestos exposure and mesothelioma. We are also committed to staying abreast of developments in this area to help our clients and the community in treating the deadly cancer, mesothelioma.

A leading doctor at the University of Leicester’s Department of Cancer Studies and Molecular medicine has initiated two treatment trials for patients of mesothelioma, the lung cancer which has been linked to asbestos exposure. Asbestos is a common material found in household products as well as construction materials, especially historically before the risks of asbestos were known. Many industrial workers have been unknowingly exposed to asbestos and contract the cancer later in life. Throughout the developed world, the number of mesothelioma cases continues to rise due to exposures that happened before the industrial product was restricted in use. Asbestos is still not completely banned in the United States.
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The family of a former railroad worker from Illinois was awarded $1.4 million in an asbestos-related lawsuit brought on his behalf.

The man had reportedly worked in the rail yards for a company called GM&O Railroad (Gulf, Mobile & Ohio), whose primary routes extended from Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana to Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago. This man’s work at the company extended from 1957 through 1972, where he worked in both Illinois and Kentucky.

Jurors determined that the railroad company had knowledge of the asbestos hazards putting workers at risk, yet they failed to warn employees. This worker died in 2009 of mesothelioma.

Our Boston mesothelioma attorneys know that former railroad workers are at high risk for developing mesothelioma today.

Asbestos was present in many of the train and locomotive components that were widely used between the 1930s and the 1970s. Even beyond that point, after the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration ordered limitations on use of asbestos in construction materials, railroads continued to use it, in some instances quite extensively.

There is ample evidence in these cases that the railroad companies knew about the health risks to which it was exposing workers and did not bother to inform them or take steps to protect them from those risks. In fact, exposure to asbestos is still an ongoing concern for railroad workers whose companies are using parts that were made prior to the 1980s.

We tend to think of railroads as being somewhat antiquated. And its true that long-distance passenger travel has largely shifted to automobiles and airplanes. However, railroads still account for about a third of all U.S. exports and railroad firms continue to employ upwards of 1 million people across the country.

Here in Boston, we have the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company, Amtrack and CSX.

Some of the most common railroad products known to sometimes contain asbestos are:

• Insulation. This was often used on steam and diesel locomotives to insulate materials such as boilers, the metal underbelly of the train, the outside of the engine, the caboose ceilings, the pipe coverings, inside the boxcars, the driving cabins and carriages and the electrical panels.
• Locomotive parts. These would primarily be brake linings, brake pads, clutches and the floor and ceiling tiles of passenger cars.
• Miscellaneous equipment. This would include things like plaster, wallboards, gaskets and sealing cement.

Because of the pervasiveness of asbestos on trains, even those rail industry workers who weren’t routinely involved in repairs have a good chance of having been exposed.

One study found that instances of mesothelioma and other kinds of lung cancer were three times more likely among railroad workers who were “operating,” such as brakemen, switchmen, conductors, engineers and roundhouse personnel, as opposed to non-operating workers.

Railroad workers may sue their current or former employers for injuries sustained on the job through the Federal Employers Liability Act, or FELA. In order to be successful in a FELA case, the worker has to show that the employer’s negligence contributed to the injury. Such a case may be brought in either federal or state court.
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Our Boston mesothelioma lawyers realize that James Fogle isn’t the most sympathetic of characters.

The 75-year-old, who was made famous for writing about and committing pharmacy robberies, recently died in prison – the latest in a long line of well-known individuals to succumb to the disease. His late-1980s novel, “Drugstore Cowboy,” about drug addicts who heisted pills from pharmacies, was made into a movie by filmmaker Daniel Yost. The film became a cult classic, and closely mirrored Fogle’s own life, which was checkered with stints in and out of prison.

In fact, Yost has indicated that prison work may have been the root cause of his illness. He had been in and out of institutions throughout his life. During an earlier stint, he began working with steel pipes and various machinery in the prison. Back in 1953, the American Water Works Association set regulations prohibiting the use of asbestos in cement pipes. After that, many facilities (including prisons) had them replaced due to the hazards. But that didn’t happen all at once, meaning that prisoners and prison staff alike were placed at risk for the fatal cancer.

At the time of Fogle’s death, he was serving a 16-year prison sentence for a 2010 pharmacy robbery.

We know that asbestos has been common in almost every older commercial structure, as well as many products. Little has been done to address the issue of asbestos in schools and office buildings, so it’s really not surprising that little has been done to take asbestos out of prisons. We understand some might say that it’s just as well, and that those who are serving time deserve whatever ills befall them while they’re there. But there are a few things to consider:

1. Most of those who are in prison have not been handed death sentences – which is what mesothelioma is.

2. The people who work in prisons are at equal risk of exposure as the prisoners.

Another recent example of asbestos exposure in prisons was in Kansas. It was so bad, in fact, that an audit was ordered by the state Department of Corrections to identify how many inmates and workers had been exposed during a massive asbestos abatement project at two of their facilities. The audit noted that the organic fiber was actually in dozens of the prisons throughout the state.

The agency had previously been fined by the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to properly dispose of the material. It reportedly used untrained and ill-equipped prisoners in order to destroy and remove asbestos-laden flooring. It did not even provide these prisoners with respirators.The agency also failed to test other buildings, which likely contained asbestos, before tearing them down.

The only real positive for prisoners who are diagnosed with mesothelioma is that they are guaranteed health care by the state. However, that’s only for as long as they are incarcerated – and it doesn’t do anything for prison staffers.

Of course, this is not always top-notch health care. In some cases, they must wait weeks or months for an appointment. Plus, as mesothelioma is a terminal disease, there is not much doctors can do anyway.

While few may mourn Fogle’s death as the loss of a great contributor to society, it’s worth noting that if corrections departments knowingly expose either prisoners and prison workers to asbestos, they should be held accountable.
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Two recent chemotherapy studies returned encouraging results for sufferers of mesothelioma and their families.

Boston mesothelioma lawyers know how incredibly devastating this disease is, having seen firsthand how it destroys families by claiming a member’s life far too soon. Because there is no cure, sufferers often decline fairly rapidly and family members are left to pick up the pieces.

We remain dedicated to holding the manufacturers of asbestos-containing products accountable, and to aggressively fighting for a judgment or settlement that is in your favor.

That said, we know that no amount of money is ever going to bring your loved one back.

That’s why we feel it important to note anytime new research emerges indicating we might be one step closer to a cure. It’s not to give you false hope, but rather an understanding of what is being done to work toward eradication of this awful disease.

Even though a large number of manufacturers no longer use asbestos, the compound that is responsible for mesothelioma, the ones who did years ago are only just now being held accountable. That’s because those who are sickened are only just now finding out because the latency period is often decades.

And that’s also part of what makes treatment so difficult. By the time the disease is discovered and affirmed, it’s already in its latest stages.

That’s part of what a lot of the newer research has been focusing on – earlier diagnoses for earlier treatments.

In the first of the two most recent studies, scientists from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, reportedly added a new drug to the cocktail normally prescribed to mesothelioma patients to help prolong their lives. The new drug is called bevacizumab.

The study analyzed results in 52 patients, who were not considered candidates for surgery and who had not been treated prior to the research.

What they found was that nearly 60 percent of those involved went on to live for the next six months without any progression of their mesothelioma. There were, however, some difficult side effects, including blood clotting, hypertension and a reduction of white blood cells. It was a somewhat less-than-ideal outcome, but it certainly underscores the need for future testing of this drug combination.

Then there was a second study by doctors in Egypt that was set to determine whether mesothelioma patients who underwent chemotherapy might have better results if they were first infused with a drug called methotrexate into the cancerous areas prior to treatment. This was a relatively small study – only five patients – but doctors did count lower levels of the cancer in those areas where patients had received the injection, even weeks later.

More research will be required.

We know that it will be difficult because this cancer is relatively rare – about 3,000 people are diagnosed with the disease each year. That doesn’t make for especially large study samples. However, research in the arena of lung cancer may potentially lead to breakthroughs for mesothelioma patients.
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Massachusetts mesothelioma lawyers know that for many plaintiffs, their exposure to asbestos – and ultimately their mesothelioma diagnosis – were not the result of an isolated incident or even a singular job.

That was the issue in Gallagher v. Nat’l Grid USA/Narragansett Electric, in which the Rhode Island Supreme Court affirmed the decision handed down by the Workers’ Compensation Court Appellate Division.

Some have alleged that when plaintiffs claim more than one defendant in a mesothelioma case, that shows some type of fraud. The fact of the matter, however, is that numerous employers and manufacturers used and sold asbestos-laden products without regard for the cancer it would later cause to workers and consumers.

Such was the case here, and at issue was who should ultimately have to pay.

Dennis Gallagher lived in Rhode Island and that’s where this case was decided. However, the basic facts are still applicable here in Massachusetts.

Essentially what happened here is that the Workers’ Compensation Court had ordered one company to pay damages to Gallagher. An appellate court vacated that order, and instead laid blame on another employer. The state’s Supreme Court affirmed the latter, following petitions for writ of certiorari (or review) filed by both the company deemed subsequently responsible and Gallagher’s widow.

His case begins like so many others. He started his professional career as a welder, where he worked for a boat company in Connecticut between 1965 and 1971. He reportedly worked on submarines that were “loaded” with asbestos. Prior to his death, he testified that workers were constantly moving it in and out of his work space. The pipes at his work place were insulated with asbestos, which meant it then became airborne. This airborne exposure has been proven to cause mesothelioma.

Additionally during this time, the air filters were loaded with asbestos and he also was given asbestos gloves and asbestos blankets.

Then in the decade between 1974 and 1984, Gallagher was a supervisor, planner and welder at a boat yard in Rhode Island. During his time there, he reportedly worked with heater covers that were covered with asbestos. Additionally, he was given gloves made of asbestos to handle the hot metal, as well as blankets made of asbestos, which he used to cover himself or an area to insulate from fire or potential burns. At this location, some areas were ventilated, others not. He himself was never given a personal ventilator for use.

Then in 1984, Gallagher started working as a mechanic technician welder at a plant in Providence. There, asbestos covered the pipes inside the boilers. At least once annually, the asbestos was stripped, put into bags and either replaced or mixed and reused. These were done in the same area where he worked, and he sometimes helped out – without ventilation.

Then in 1995, another company was hired to come in and remove the asbestos. Three years later, another company, USGEN, purchased his company.

He was asked whether he believed he was exposed to the substance between then and 2004, when he was diagnosed. He said he believed so because old parts still remained in the structure.

While a workers’ compensation court awarded a judgment against USGEN for asbestos exposure, the appellate court vacated that ruling, saying that exposure to asbestos is unlikely to result in a mesothelioma diagnosis until many years later. The exposure that likely caused his cancer, it was reasoned, happened much earlier.

The Supreme Court confirmed this. While it’s encouraging from the standpoint that his widow was still compensated, we certainly maintain that the later asbestos exposure could have contributed to his disease and subsequent death.
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