Mesothelioma Lawyers Blog

October 15, 2011

Natick Real Estate Broker Fined $40k Over Asbestos Violations

Maybe it’s just us Boston mesothelioma lawyers, but it seems like there have been many more instances of asbestos-related violations lately.

It could be that the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is finally getting serious about asbestos exposure, or maybe construction and real estate officials have become lax in their treatment of this potentially fatal mineral.

Exposure to asbestos in Boston can be life-threatening if it turns into a diagnosis of mesothelioma, a rare and incurable form of cancer. Many schools have been in the news recently because they are finally cleaning up asbestos that has been in their gymnasiums, walls, piping and boiler rooms for decades.

Asbestos was used for most of the 20th Century in buildings throughout the country. New England buildings are old and historic and there’s no doubt that many schools, museums and factories were built with asbestos.

In Natick, a real estate broker has been fined $41,235 by the state’s DEP because he didn’t correctly remove asbestos. The broker has said he wasn’t the one who removed the asbestos, but rather was told to do so by a subcontractor.

In February 2009, the broker hired a contractor who didn’t have an asbestos license to remove asbestos insulation from a house in Worcester, according to the allegations. When the house was inspected by state officials along with the storage facility in Upton where the asbestos had been taken, they found the material hadn’t been removed, transported, labeled or packaged according to state regulations, the agency said.

The broker was then forced to hire a licensed asbestos contractor to remove the asbestos and make sure the home’s basement and the storage unit were no longer contaminated with the asbestos. He was fined $35,100 plus another $6,135 penalty that will be withheld as long as the broker doesn’t have any more violations in the next two years, the newspaper reports.

In lieu of a fine, the broker offered to put together an educational program for brokers who, like him, may not have been aware of the liability in such cases. That offer was rejected, he said.

I think all Massachusetts residents can appreciate that the state is going to great lengths to make sure our buildings — both old and newly renovated — are free from asbestos. By now, we all know that asbestos is highly dangerous and can lead to certain death upon diagnosis of mesothelioma.

While asbestos has never been officially banned in the United States, its dangers are well known. There is no excuse for this dangerous material to be used in our buildings so that people are put at risk. And while contractors are busy working quickly to maximize profits, they cannot overlook the dangers of renovation of an older building.

There’s no reason that buildings should still contain this very old and very dangerous natural mineral. It should not only be replaced with a safer alternative, but disposed of so no one else can be exposed and injured by it. Both construction professionals as well as real estate officials must listen up and take this seriously.
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October 12, 2011

$322 Million Asbestos Verdict May Be in Jeopardy Because of Judge

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A Mississippi judge is in hot water after the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that he shouldn’t have presided over an asbestos trial where the victim was awarded $322 million, the largest single-plaintiff asbestos award ever, Thomson Reuters reports.

The judge had a conflict of interest that should have prevented him from hearing the trial against Union Carbide Corp. earlier this year. Now it’s likely the huge jury award will vanish and a new trial be scheduled.

It’s been well documented that exposure to asbestos in Massachusetts can lead to a diagnosis of mesothelioma. And as our Boston mesothelioma lawyers have said time and time again on this blog, a mesothelioma diagnosis typically means a person lives another 12 months, on average.

While this is a slow-moving illness — it can take years or decades before a person who is affected spots the cancer– it moves quickly to death once a person does get diagnosed. Typical symptoms include heavy coughing, fluid build-up and chest pain. These can all be symptoms of old age, which is often why it goes undiagnosed for so long.

Many workers in old mines, factories and buildings were exposed to asbestos 30 and 40 years ago when their companies knew the dangers and did nothing to stop it. The problems with asbestos began being uncovered as early as the 1960s and 1970s, when people began falling ill.

As researchers found, once asbestos got into a person’s body, it attacks the lining of major organs. Tumors form and the cancer spreads, leaving the person unable to fend off its progress.

Many victims didn’t know that their job entailed putting their lives at risk. When companies didn’t tell their employees that their products contained asbestos or that they knew there were risks to working with it, that is unlawful.

Many buildings contained asbestos as an insulator, helpful in its fire resistant properties and cost. Piping, floor and ceiling tiles, brake pads and other commonly used products contained asbestos until recent decades. It has never been officially banned in the United States.

Union Carbide is a chemical production company that has been around since the early 1900s. Their products range from household uses to automotive, oil and textile uses.

In a lawsuit out of Mississippi, they were on the hook for $322 million after plaintiff Thomas Brown sued and won. He was allegedly exposed to asbestos after Union Carbide sold asbestos to Montello Inc. to use in drilling. In April, the jury agreed and awarded the large verdict.

But in an appeal, the company argued that the judge shouldn’t have been on the trial at all. His father was a plaintiff in an asbestos case against Union Carbide and he had made rulings that could end up benefiting his father’s pending claims.

During the trial, the company said, he made biased remarks against the company and its co-defendant, Chevron Phillips Chemical.

The state’s high court agreed and ordered the judge to recuse himself from the trial, noting its doubts that the judge could be impartial. Union Carbide now expects the verdict to be thrown out and a new trial held.
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October 10, 2011

Asbestos, Other Minerals May Be To Blame for Mesothelioma in New England

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A recent article published on MSNBC.com highlights the mineral erionite, which, like asbestos, is being blamed as a cause of mesothelioma in New England and beyond.

The article looks at an area of Turkey where a majority of the deaths are being blamed on mesothelioma, a rare and incurable cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs and heart. Sadly, this isn’t just a problem that people of Turkey have. It happens right here in Boston and throughout New England.

Our Boston mesothelioma lawyers are dedicated to representing victims who were exposed to asbestos or erionite who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma. Many military veterans have had their lives cut short because of exposure that led to the cancer. But even school-age children are put at risk because of old schools that contain asbestos and haven’t had it removed. In most cases, construction workers or those who worked directly with the material are most at risk.

According to the article, a study by the U.S. Geological Survey, Montana Department of Transportation and the U.S. Forest Service found that all Western states, including North Dakota and South Dakota, have deposits of erionite.

It is a natural mineral that because of its makeup is easy to use in building homes. So, many villages in Turkey are now called “cancer villages” because 40 to 50 percent of all deaths were due to mesothelioma. Animal studies showed that erionite is 100 to 800 times more dangerous than asbestos.

The article goes on to say that erionite got some attention in the United States in the 1980s, but that tapered off when researchers went on to other projects. While erionite is a word most Americans have never heard, it is unregulated and may be the new asbestos.

With roads, pipelines, power lines and wind and solar farms out west, it’s possible that residents are at risk without even knowing it. The article sites situations like in North Dakota, where hundreds of miles had been covered with erionite-tainted gravel.

This could be developing into a similar situation to that of Libby, Montana, where thousands of people have fallen ill and hundreds have died because a plant there was the main exporter of asbestos for the United States from 1920 to 1990.

Residents weren’t made aware of the dangers until many were already diagnosed and close to death. While no reports of illness have been reported in North Dakota, that may not be much of an indicator, since mesothelioma can take decades to show symptoms.

As the Mesothelioma Lawyers Blog reported in July, University of Hawaii researchers are studying regions of Turkey that have been hit hard with mesothelioma due to exposure to erionite in an effort to better understand the mineral and its effects.

It may not be long before researchers are looking at how the United States ignored this dangerous mineral and allowed its citizens to be exposed without regulation for so long, knowing it was hazardous.
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October 7, 2011

Medford Schools Fined for Improperly Removing Asbestos

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The Medford School Department has been fined $30,000 for improperly disposing of asbestos tiling at the Curtis Tufts Alternative High School, The Boston Globe reports.

What is sad here is that not only did the school not conform to rules and proper procedures for removing asbestos, but also that this school still had asbestos in it as of 2009. As the Mesothelioma Lawyers Blog reported in September, however, Medford isn’t the only school dealing with asbestos in Massachusetts.
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The school district in North Reading was forking out about $275,000 to remove asbestos from middle and high schools there. It’s an issue that older schools in New England have despite the knowledge for decades that asbestos is dangerous and potentially deadly to those who are exposed.

Our Massachusetts mesothelioma lawyers are happy that schools districts are making asbestos removal a priority, but are discouraged that it has taken so long and even more frustrated that schools may be improperly removing it once they get around to finding the money to do it.

According to The Globe, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection issued the $30,000 fine, but later suspended it. The violation occurred in 2009 and officials decided to levy the punishment provisionally. If the school doesn’t have another violation for three years, it won’t have to pay the fine.

The school has sent two staff members to specialized asbestos removal training as part of the deal.

In May 2009, a cleanup crew took asbestos-laden tiles and dumped them in a trash container behind the school. Officials said that once they found out, they moved students to a different school so students weren’t exposed. The article doesn’t state how long the trash bin was at the school before students were moved, however.

According to a violation order cited by the newspaper, after the container was removed, it was sent to another school — Columbus Elementary School — before being returned to the Curtis school, where it went through decontamination and cleaning procedures.

State law requires that asbestos be removed in sanitary conditions that reduce the possibility that others are exposed. Medford workers failed to use water in the removal, seal the work area and clean the air with purification devices when removing it.

There’s a reason the state has regulations to remove asbestos in a certain way so people aren’t exposed. And when you’re talking about removing asbestos, it is most dangerous when it breaks up and gets airborne. So, doing a proper job of getting rid of it is extremely important.

No one should have to be exposed to asbestos, but especially not our children. They are our future and if they are exposed to asbestos in school, 30 years from now they could end up with a mesothelioma diagnosis.

When someone is exposed to asbestos — even only for a short time — a mesothelioma diagnosis can result decades later. That’s why many military veterans, especially those who were in the U.S. Navy, are now realizing that working on ships in the 1960s and 1970s exposed them to asbestos and is leading to their death.

School officials must remain vigilant in getting asbestos out of their facilities and away from children. It is critical.
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October 5, 2011

Businessman Sentenced to Prison For Exposing Many to Asbestos in New England, Elsewhere

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

As the Mesothelioma Lawyers Blog reported in August, a Massachusetts developer was recently fined $100,000 for not removing asbestos as state and federal officials had ordered.

New York officials topped that recently, charging a businessman federally with exposing workers to asbestos, the Democrat & Chronicle in Rochester reports.

There’s a reason we have laws in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, by the federal government and on a state-by-state basis. It’s important that people not be exposed to asbestos in Boston and elsewhere.

Boston mesothelioma lawyers have seen rouge contractors and builders attempt to break the law and try to get away with using asbestos or not removing it as they should in order to cut corners and save dollars. And there have been a number of high-profile cases in which contractors or asbestos removal companies used immigrants and low-wage workers to remove asbestos without the necessary safety precautions.

It’s not as if this is anything new. When asbestos was largely an unknown at the turn of the 19th century, companies used it because it was inexpensive and provided good qualities for buildings. But as research continued into asbestos and its health effects, businessmen became acutely aware of what asbestos was doing to their employees and customers. Yet in too many cases they ignored or downplayed the risks.

They chose to cut corners and leave the asbestos in their buildings and in their products, despite what it was doing to harm others. Not much has changed.

In Rochester, New York, a businessman was convicted of violating the federal Clean Air Act when he didn’t protect employees during an asbestos removal project. He was sentenced to six years in prison and has to pay $300,000 in restitution to the victims.

The company’s employees were injured and put in danger during a project to remove asbestos at a nearby hospital. According to the news report, the asbestos was falling on workers “like snow” while they were unprotected and put at risk. Witnesses testified the workers were put in a bad situation while the leaders did nothing to protect them.

This is yet another classic case of poor oversight in an asbestos case. Many of those workers may not feel the effects of the asbestos that rained down “like snow” on them as they worked. They may feel healthy for years, with that one construction job put far behind them and out of their minds.

But in a few decades, these workers may end up feeling the symptoms that tie them to a mesothelioma diagnosis. So it’s important they monitor their health closely. Anyone who has worked on construction projects involving old buildings must heed to this warning that mesothelioma is a possibility in cases where asbestos is in the air. And even if they don’t 100 percent know that asbestos is in a building, it’s possible that it is, so it is critical the worker protect their health and be safe.
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October 1, 2011

5 Things You Should Know About Mesothelioma in Boston

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A recent article out of Pennsylvania makes some good points about mesothelioma in New England and beyond.

The good news is that at least National Mesothelioma Awareness Day has gotten into the national psyche and provided more awareness of this incurable and fatal form of cancer. The day, designated as such by the United States Congress, was September 26 and communities across the country used the day to remember loved ones who were struck down by this form of cancer and to raise awareness to those who aren’t familiar with it.

People diagnosed with mesothelioma in Boston tragically either were U.S. military veterans who were exposed to asbestos while serving our country or were workers in plants, factories or older buildings. Many buildings in the United States were constructed with asbestos because it is fire-resistant and can be used in many products, from insulation to ceiling tiles to use as coating for piping and brake pads.

After exposure, which can be as short as a matter of months, the asbestos forms tumors, typically in the chest along the lining of the heart or lungs. By the time they are discovered, the tumors are usually inoperable. The likely symptoms are chest pain, fluid build-up and heavy coughing.

Sadly, many people chalk up the symptoms to old age or years of smoking and don’t visit a doctor who specializes in asbestos-related illnesses, never having thought of asbestos being a culprit.

When someone is finally diagnosed with mesothelioma — it can take years or even decades for persistent symptoms to present themselves and for a diagnosis to be made — they typically live only about a year, on average.

It is a sad culmination to what is typically a long, full life filled with memories. But the last year is often marked with health struggles, frustration, resentment and sadness. Many people feel betrayed by the companies for whom they dedicated decades to in service.

Get checked out by a doctor if you have these symptoms and then meet with an experienced Boston mesothelioma lawyer, who can help.

Five pertinent facts about mesothelioma:

Treatment: Researchers have a basic knowledge of the cell biology and research has increased in recent years. Few treatment options are available that target mesothelioma specifically, which is why the median lifespan after diagnosis is so low.

September 11: An increase in diagnosis is expected in the next few years as survivors and volunteers of the September 11 attacks, specifically in New York, come to realize they have been exposed to asbestos from the buildings that collapsed and the toxins that were in the air that day and the following months.

Other exposures: The article states that 35 million attics in the United States contain contaminated vermiculite. Vermiculite is a natural mineral that had similar uses as asbestos. Much of the vermiculite contained asbestos and therefore was contaminated and caused health problems.

Long term hopes: Asbestos isn’t banned in the United States, but both branches of Congress tried to pass legislation banning it in 2007.

Future funding: Lawmakers in recent years have added mesothelioma to the group of cancers and illnesses that need funding in order to seek cures and to better understand this deadly cancer.
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September 30, 2011

Apartment Fire Reveals Asbestos Exposure in New England

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A recent Colorado apartment fire led to 126 people being out of a home after officials found widespread asbestos in the structure of the building, ABC News is reporting.

Asbestos was discovered in Springfield and throughout Massachusetts after tornadoes ran through the area this summer. When buildings get knocked down due to powerful storms or other natural disasters, they can be exposed for what they really are.

Not every apartment building in New England has asbestos, but many do. Proving that a company knowingly used asbestos and ignored the health risks can be a challenge. Visiting a doctor who specializes in asbestos-related diseases and illnesses is the first step. If diagnosed with mesothelioma in New England, contacting an aggressive Boston mesothelioma lawyer to fight for your rights is the second.

Companies must be held accountable for their actions. If they knowingly used asbestos in building structures and in making products for consumers and people got sick as a result, they can’t get away with it. But it takes extensive research in order to prove a person truly was injured by asbestos from a specific company and not from outside factors.

Families shouldn’t have to lose their loved ones too soon because they are diagnosed with a preventable form of cancer. Once diagnosed, most people only live about one year. Yet, asbestos exposure can happen years or decades earlier. It is one of the slowest-moving forms of cancer and stays hidden until the symptoms become clear — persistent coughing, fluid build-up and chest pain, among others.

By that point, it’s largely too late and the person’s fate is sealed. But that doesn’t mean the fight ends. An aggressive Boston mesothelioma lawyer will seek justice, even when the loved one has passed away.

In the Colorado incident, a fire broke out after an alleged case of arson. The apartment complex was left damaged and officials discovered hazardous asbestos contamination levels after the fire. Residents, after hearing about the discovery of asbestos in the apartment, now are concerned about their health because they had to rush through thick smoke to get out. The smoke may have contained asbestos, ABC News is reporting.

Firefighters were forced to rescue 20 residents from the three-story apartment building in Aurora. Four people were transported to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. It’s unclear if any of the residents have been looked at for asbestos exposure related illnesses.

While asbestos isn’t used in the United States anymore, it hasn’t been banned. While environmental agencies have sought to regulate its use and cleanup buildings that used it in the past, they have been only somewhat successful.

Many buildings, especially those built decades ago, still have asbestos in them and can possibly harm people who are exposed to the asbestos therein. Many workers from the 1950s, 60s and 70s are now feeling the effects of asbestos exposure with mesothelioma diagnosis today. Exposure risks are particularly acute for those involved with the construction or demolition of such structures.
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September 20, 2011

Canada Continues Exporting Asbestos, Ignoring Health Risks

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Despite all the warnings, all the sickness and all the problems asbestos has caused people in America and abroad, Canadian officials are still moving forward with plans to pick up production and exportation of asbestos to third-world countries, The Globe And Mail of Toronto reports.

This is a prime example of greed outweighing common sense and concern for mankind. It’s why many people have been exposed to asbestos in New England, been diagnosed with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related illnesses and die because of it.

It’s why Boston mesothelioma attorneys have seen families grieving over the death of a loved one. Come to find out that the company that loved one dedicated years of service to knew about the asbestos in its buildings or products and failed to warn its employees of the dangers.

Preventable asbestos-related illnesses take the lives of people every day, in every country. It happens throughout New England to California. Many dedicated workers, and even military veterans, have sacrificed their lives not because of enemy fire or an on-site accident, but because of asbestos.

In recent years, the asbestos industry in Canada had taken a downward turn. Finally, foreign countries and businesses were realizing that the benefits of cheap asbestos weren’t nearly worth the lives of employees and others affected by the mineral that was used for insulation, on piping, car parts, floor and ceiling tiles and other common consumer products.

Yet investors are seeking to make blood money off of poor countries with residents who don’t have much of a voice of influence over such matters. One man vowed to save the industry and came up with $25 million to save an industry that has been decried as unsafe. Even the Quebec government guaranteed a $58 million loan to help.

The hope is to increase export sales of the deadly mineral to $150 million within two years and $3.4 billion over the next two decades. Obviously, the Canadian government is on board with the plan. Not only has it guaranteed a loan to continue producing the toxic mineral, but it stood virtually alone last spring when it voted to block a United Nations treaty that would have added asbestos to a list of restricted hazardous materials.

The man who has headed the rejuvenation of asbestos in Canada is from India, the biggest importer of Canadian asbestos. Some critics have said it is racism to send potentially deadly materials to countries where the people have no voice and no way to resist its use in their buildings and products.

The man claims that modern asbestos is more tightly bonded than the loose asbestos previously used as insulation. Yet, his defense carries no facts that the asbestos is less harmful. It may be more tightly “bonded” yet that doesn’t make it less dangerous.

He claims that the asbestos is used in roofing for India’s neediest and that health investigators — independent from his companies — will monitor the situation. But critics correctly point out that standards in India and tracking the shipment and use of asbestos may be challenging.
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September 13, 2011

Jury Awards U.S. Navy Veteran $32 Million for Asbestos Exposure

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A Kentucky man and U.S. Navy veteran was awarded $32 million in damages after an eight-week trial in New York, WSAZ reports.

While it’s a large sum of money, it will not stop the pleural mesothelioma with which the man has been diagnosed. Pleural mesothelioma in New England, and other forms of the rare and incurable cancer are unstoppable. But jury awards like this one can help pay for medical treatment and give some help to family members left behind. People see the large verdicts. Rarely do they consider the billions made by companies who unlawfully and willfully exposed employees to asbestos, despite the known risk of contracting a fatal cancer.

Sadly, many companies, including the United States armed forces, used asbestos even though they knew the side effects could be deadly. Many manufactured products used asbestos because of its fire resistant feature, but even after it was discovered that exposure to asbestos in Boston and elsewhere could be harmful, many still continued to use this material. Our Boston Mesothelioma Lawyers have seen the devastation caused by this form of cancer.

According to the TV station, the veteran served 28 years in the U.S. Navy and of those years, 18 were spent aboard ships that exposed him to asbestos. The jurors found that the man developed pleural mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos between 1960 and 1977, while serving our country.

In that time frame, he worked in the boiler and fire rooms of each vessel he occupied. He repaired Crane Co.-manufactured valves as well as worked on Elliott Turbomachinery Co. Inc-manufactured tanks on one of the ships.

Jurors found that both of these companies used asbestos-laden products, including pads, gaskets, and manhole gaskets. The jury decided that both companies — 99 percent Crane and 1 percent Elliott — acted with reckless disregard for the man’s safety for not warning of the dangers of asbestos exposure.

Jurors awarded the victim $16 million for past pain and suffering and $16 million for future pain and suffering.

This jury sent a strong message about the dangers of asbestos and how a company’s negligence and intentional misrepresentations about asbestos won’t be tolerated. Many companies made commonly used products containing asbestos despite knowing the dangers.

It is common for military veterans to return home from combat with various illnesses, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. But for our older veterans, many are just now feeling the effects of asbestos exposure while they were serving our country overseas or abroad.

The U.S. Navy in particular was a large importer of asbestos because it was used on warships and in shipyards. Asbestos is fire resistant, which was a good quality for the lining of ships as well as the mechanical rooms and piping of ships. A ship fire at sea can be devastating.

But perhaps equally devastating is that many veterans who served faithfully were exposed to asbestos and returned home seemingly fine. But after years, the asbestos develops into mesothelioma or other illnesses and turns deadly. After diagnosis, the median life span is 12 months. Our veterans deserve better.
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September 12, 2011

Mesothelioma Awareness Day On Sept. 26 in Boston

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

National Mesothelioma Awareness Day is Sept. 26, according to The Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance, which is a good reminder to make sure people know the facts about mesothelioma in New England and beyond.

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer, yet claims the lives of many people who were once exposed to asbestos, either on Navy ships, in shipyards, in old factories or buildings or while working in the construction of older homes and offices. Boston Mesothelioma Lawyers have seen the many people who were exposed to asbestos and now are dying because their companies exposed them to undue risks.

The cancer develops slowly and can take 30 to 40 years before symptoms lead to a diagnosis of mesothelioma.

The day Sept. 26 is designed to help raise awareness for this cancer, which gets much less exposure than other forms of cancer, such as breast cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer, for instance.

The day was selected by Congress to single out this form of cancer, which affects nearly 3,000 Americans each year. It is caused almost exclusively by exposure to asbestos, The Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance says.

Though the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has imposed regulations, about 1.3 million construction workers and other professionals are still exposed to asbestos every day. Traditionally, factory workers, mechanics and electricians were most likely to be exposed to asbestos. But older buildings that collapse in tornadoes, such as the one that ran through parts of Western Massachusetts this year, earthquakes and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that downed the World Trade Center towers, have left many others exposed to the toxic chemicals.

Despite the many buildings and old parts that contain asbestos and put many people at risk, including children who attend schools that still contain asbestos, there is no cure for mesothelioma.

Once diagnosed, even thought it can take years and even decades after asbestos exposure for that to happen, the average person only lives 12 months.

Mesothelioma causes tumors in the lining of major organs, such as the heart, lungs and stomach lining. Some cancers start in non-vital places and become deadly when they travel to vital organs. For mesothelioma patients, the cancer is already in a very bad spot to begin with.

So, on Sept. 26, think about those who may have unknowingly been exposed to asbestos and now, decades later, are suffering the consequences. Our veterans and our hard-working Americans who sacrificed to make great products or service buildings are now facing this difficult diagnosis in retirement.
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