New York Chemist Receives $2.5 Million Jury Award in Mesothelioma Case

A short two week trial in the New York Supreme Court ended with a victory for mesothelioma victim and former laboratory chemist James Ginter late last week.  Ginter spent a good portion of his working career at the Durez Plastics Plant in North Tonawanda, New York.  It was here that his job put him in direct contact with asbestos and asbestos materials.  Even worse—his job required him to grind these materials releasing asbestos fibers into the air multiplying the risk to his health.

Ginter was one of many who used the FAST (Friction Assessment Screening Test) Machine manufactured by the Ford Motor Company.  With the machine, he filed and ground experimental materials, many of which contained asbestos, intended to be used in brake pads for automobiles.  Many times his work space was left coated in a visible dust which contained varying percentages of asbestos.

It seems ridiculous that such callous disregard for health and safety went unnoticed seeing as how the dangers of asbestos were known as early as the 1940s and 1950s.  However, the Ford Motor Company knew for a fact that their employees were dying of this preventable cancer as far back as the early 1970s and still allowed such work to continue.

This exposure eventually caused Ginter to develop mesothelioma, a deadly type of cancer caused by ingesting or inhaling asbestos fibers.  Though he had been exposed to the hazardous materials years before, Ginter was not diagnosed until 2010.  This is common, as with many mesothelioma victims, since the latency period can be decades from time of exposure until symptoms of mesothelioma develop.    By the time of diagnosis, the cancer has usually reached late stages and is difficult to treat.

Supreme Court Justice Hon. John P. Lane, J.H.O., now retired,  presided over the jury which awarded $2.5 million.  They found Ford itself to be 15% responsible for the financial damages incurred by Ginter while the remainder of the responsibility fell on other corporate entities, many of whom settled with Ginter before the case went to trial.

Occupations concerned with the manufacture and maintenance of automobiles, trains, and ships of all sizes run the risk of exposure on the job.  While the large majority of mesothelioma victims are like Ginter and have worked in factories, plants, and other industrial settings, carpenters, electricians, and other home repair workers are also in danger.

While asbestos use was severely restricted in the 1970s and banned in the 1980s -leaving most current industrial workers “out of the line of fire”- construction materials containing asbestos which were manufactured and put in place before the ban still exist.  That means that the danger for asbestos exposure and mesothelioma diagnosis may be growing in populations of tradesmen and women who routinely come into contact with such materials.

In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other regulatory bodies urge anyone who must open walls, ceiling spaces, or floor spaces to be wary of asbestos materials.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 27th, 2011 at 5:30 pm and is filed under Mesothelioma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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Mesothelioma Research Gets Financial Boost from the DoD

Since 2008 the Department of Defense (DoD) began giving grants to researchers trying to find new treatments for mesothelioma and other types of cancer.  While the amount of money the DoD has to give out is limited, the grant process is open to researchers and can provide a much needed financial boost for cutting-edge and experimental technologies that might otherwise fall to the wayside.

Such technologies will allow researchers to identify gene markers for earlier diagnosis, study tumor growth and create methods to retard or reverse malignancies.  They may also lead to a mesothelioma vaccine, which won’t help current patients but may prevent others from developing this deadly cancer.

While the injection of funds into the research for mesothelioma treatment and cure is welcomed and much needed, one might ask why the Department of Defense is making these monies available and not some other branch of the government.  Unfortunately, it’s not out of the goodness of bureaucratic hearts.

The federal office is responsible for addressing diseases and injuries which occur during military service.  For decades, military service (especially in the Navy) was one of the leading risk factors for developing mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases.  In fact, it has been estimated that American Veterans make up 30 percent of all the mesothelioma cases in the United States.

That’s because naval ships, military bases and equipment often contained materials partially comprised of asbestos.  The naturally occurring mineral was widely used in insulations, gaskets and seals, and heat resistant coatings.

Since the grants began, the DoD has been responsible for nearly $7 million in research funding—which may sound like a lot but is really just a drop in the bucket.

The DoD grants, available through the Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP), are earmarked for programs that aim to improve the life expectancy and quality of life for service members who have mesothelioma and their families.

While mesothelioma research is not the only type of cancer research eligible for funding through this grant process, it may be one of the most important.  The new diagnosis rate for mesothelioma patients is expected to crest very soon, which means the medical society will be coping with more patients than ever before.

Sadly, mesothelioma is a deadly disease.  There is no cure and the condition is invariably fatal.  That’s why the pressure to find some stopgap measure to increase longevity is so great.

The application process ends on November 22, 2011, and the winning agencies and researchers will be announced no later than September 30, 2012.  Each award recipient will be eligible for up to three years of funding.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 28th, 2011 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Mesothelioma Treatment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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Furniture Store Uses Facebook to Help Woman Diagnosed with Mesothelioma

In all the years that we have represented clients who have mesothelioma – and that’s more than 30!- I have never seen such a creative fundraiser to help someone who has been diagnosed with this fatal form of cancer.  Jesse Valdez, owner of Dream Rooms Furniture Store in Houston, Texas, put out a challenge to help raise funds to cover medical costs for Alexis Kidd, a young beautiful woman who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Valdez and Dream Rooms put out a challenge on Facebook that if 5000 people visited their page before midnight and clicked on the “Like” button, they would donate $1,500 towards a fund to help cover costs for Alexis’ mesothelioma treatment.  At last count, the 5000 mark had not been met, but the Dream Rooms family was so touched by the more than 2000 responses and group effort that the $1500 is already donated to help Alexis.

Mesothelioma is an incurable form of cancer that is caused by exposure to asbestos.  Because it can have a latency period of 10 to 50 years, often patients are not diagnosed until they are in their late fifties or older.  It is also more common among men than women, due to occupational exposure in such jobs as construction, ship building, brake repair, factory work, etc.

This is not the first charitable act by Dream Rooms Furniture, who does this on a weekly basis.  Dream Rooms picks a different person each week that has clicked their “Like” button, and then asks them to pick a charity of their choice to donate to.  Dream Rooms buys surplus furniture from leading manufacturers across the nation and then sells it at affordable rates.  They are based in Houston, and have been in business for more than 13 years.

In addition to Dream Rooms donation, Alexis Kidd and husband-to-be were also chosen by Wish Upon a Wedding to receive financial aid and planning for their upcoming wedding.  Wish Upon a Wedding is a non-profit started in 2010 to help provide weddings and vow renewals to couples facing terminal illnesses and serious life-altering circumstances.

Alexis Kidd most likely only has months to live.  Most of our clients do not survive past a year.  To read about Dream Rooms and Wish Upon a Wedding inspires hope and strength for those of us working with clients who are diagnosed with mesothelioma.  It also shows the great capacity in what a community can do for those who are facing such challenging circumstances.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 15th, 2011 at 11:29 am and is filed under Mesothelioma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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California High School Senior Dies of Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a disease that typically goes unnoticed for the 20 to 40 years between exposure to asbestos and diagnosis.  That’s why everyone was shocked when a young high school football star in Pasadena, California died months after being diagnosed with this rare form of cancer.  Though mesothelioma strikes nearly 3,000 people annually in the United States alone, there are very few—almost none—cases in patients so young.

Austin Lacy was only 18 when he died from complications due to this aggressive and fatal form of cancer.  Caused by exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma attacks the membranes which surround the lungs and digestive tract and line the interior of the abdominal and heart cavities.  The cancer forms around asbestos fibers that enter the body through inhalation or ingestion and usually takes decades before symptoms appear.

The diagnosis was a shock to family members and doctors alike.  A mysterious illness led Macy’s parents to take him to the National Institute of Health in Baltimore, but it wasn’t until tests in early May at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona that the mesolthioma diagnosis was confirmed.

This sad case illustrates the dangers of asbestos and the insidious nature of mesothelioma.  While doctors struggled to make such a diagnosis in a patient so young, even discovering the disease earlier would not have affected the outcome of Lacy’s treatment—mesothelioma is invariably fatal.  Current treatments for the disease can only hope to prolong longevity and reduce the patient’s suffering until the end.

His mother, in a statement released to the press, said that her son “never did like school that much – like a lot of kids – but he was intent on graduating.  He was looking forward to college.”

Instead of going to her son’s graduation, Lacy’s mother buried him in a ceremony marked by tears and grief but also in remembrance of what a funny and dedicated young man Lacy had been.

There is no word on where the young student may have come into contact with the asbestos that caused his cancer but the mineral was a common additive in building materials prior to the 1980s.

Most people diagnosed with mesothelioma come into contact with the carcinogen in the workplace, industrial settings, or schools but some are exposed during home renovations or other projects which involve opening of walls and ceiling spaces contaminated by asbestos fibers.  Some locations have also been found to have high concentrations of naturally occurring asbestos fibers—caused by expose asbestos containing rock—but friends and family members still have no idea where Lacy might have come into contact with the carcinogen.

This tragic death should serve as a reminder that while mesothelioma is often viewed as an older person’s disease, it can strike anybody, anywhere, at any time.  Please contact us immediately if you have been exposed to asbestos and are experiencing symptoms of mesothelioma or asbestosis.  We can help connect you with both legal and medical services specialized to asbestos related diseases.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 10th, 2011 at 8:14 pm and is filed under Mesothelioma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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