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Asbestos Released by White House East Wing Demolition Raises Mesothelioma Fears
The Trump administration’s rapid demolition of the historic White House East Wing has raised many questions and concerns, not the least of which surrounds the significant mesothelioma risk for workers and bystanders exposed to asbestos released by the work. With the building having originally been constructed in 1902 and renovated in 1942, health advocates and Senate
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Despite Asbestos Bans, Global Mesothelioma & Occupational Lung Cancer Deaths Rise
Mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer are both serious illnesses, with mesothelioma always classified as fatal and lung cancer often leading to death. A new analysis of Global Burden of Disease data published by BioMed Central reports that, despite the clear association between exposure and illness, deaths attributed to occupational asbestos exposure have increased significantly worldwide,
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After Bankruptcy Rejection, Mesothelioma and Cancer Claims Against J&J Surge
A federal bankruptcy court’s rejection of Johnson & Johnson’s third bankruptcy filing has given mesothelioma and ovarian cancer victims a green light to pursue justice against the company, resulting in a dramatic surge in personal injury claims against the company.
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Johnson & Johnson Loses Again, Ordered to Pay $20 Million Mesothelioma Award
A Florida jury is the latest to agree that asbestos in Johnson & Johnson’s talc products led to a consumer’s mesothelioma death. After seven weeks of testimony, the Broward County panel ordered the consumer giant to pay $20 million to the family of a noted nephrologist who died after a lifetime of using the company’s
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Libby Mesothelioma Victims Await Decision in BNSF Railway Appeal of $8 Million Verdict
As if mesothelioma victims from Libby, Montana, haven’t faced enough challenges, this week, BNSF Railway appealed a 2024 jury verdict that awarded two asbestos disease victims $4 million each. That decision had been seen as a bellweather and a chance for accountability for BNSF’s role in the town’s catastrophic asbestos contamination. Now there are concerns
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Woman Blames Mesothelioma on Second-Hand Asbestos Exposure from Shipyard
After 75-year-old Candy Fitch was diagnosed with mesothelioma, she filed a petition for damages in the Civil District Court for Orleans Parish, Louisiana, naming several of the companies that she blames for having exposed her to asbestos as defendants. Among those named is her husband’s former employer, Avondale Shipyard. She is accusing the company of
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Philadelphia Woman’s Mesothelioma Blamed on Take-Home Asbestos from U.S. Steel
A Philadelphia jury is being asked to decide whether to hold U.S. Steel Corporation responsible for the 2022 mesothelioma death of Patricia Hajas. The lawsuit blames the woman’s illness on second-hand exposure to asbestos carried into her home on her steelworker father’s work clothes.
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Cephalomannine Compound May Be Mesothelioma Treatment Breakthrough
A study led by mesothelioma researchers from the University of Pisa in Italy has revealed that cephalomannine, a taxane compound structurally related to paclitaxel, demonstrates potent anticancer properties against pleural mesothelioma. The groundbreaking research, published in the journal BMC Cancer, revealed that mice with human mesothelioma tumors treated with the drug survived a median of
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Study Predicts Decline in Mesothelioma Cases in Asbestos-contaminated Italian Town
According to researchers, fifty years after the Eternit asbestos factory in Casale Monferrato, Italy, shut down, mesothelioma rates are still high, but are slowly decreasing. The scientists say because of the fatal disease’s long latency period, it will remain a serious health problem for at least two more decades.
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Mesothelioma Patients Benefit as an Increasing Number of Medical Centers Acquire Single-Incision Robotic Surgery System
Mesothelioma and lung cancer patients across the country are benefitting from the FDA’s recent approval of the da Vinci SP (Single Port) surgical system for thoracic and chest procedures. One of the most advanced minimally invasive surgical options available, the robotic platform lets thoracic surgeons perform complex tumor removal operations through a single two-to-three-inch incision in
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Mesothelioma Widow Defeats GE’s Request for Federal Jurisdiction of Claim
There are many reasons why mesothelioma victims prefer to have their claims heard in their local state court and why asbestos companies prefer the federal courts. State courts generally provide faster trial dates, often make it easier for victims to obtain evidence, and make it easier for them to name several asbestos companies in a
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British Mesothelioma and Ovarian Cancer Victims File Johnson & Johnson Talc Claims
Earlier this year, attorneys in the United Kingdom indicated that mesothelioma and ovarian cancer victims were preparing to file personal injury claims against consumer giant Johnson & Johnson. This week, a group of thousands filed court documents accusing the company of knowingly and negligently selling talc that it knew was contaminated with asbestos, echoing the
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Judge Denies Johnson & Johnson’s Request for New Mesothelioma Trial
The judge who’d overseen the case of mesothelioma victim Evan Plotkin denied Johnson & Johnson’s petition for a new trial despite the company’s arguments that the court should have precluded, in whole or part, the opinions of the plaintiff’s expert witnesses. The judge’s decision came the same week that he awarded the victim $10 million
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United Kingdom Increases Compensation Schedule for Mesothelioma Victims
Mesothelioma victims in the United States have several options for pursuing compensation from those responsible for exposing them to asbestos, including civil lawsuits, asbestos bankruptcy trusts, and workers’ compensation. Things are handled differently in the United Kingdom: While some are able to pursue civil litigation, those whose former employers are no longer in business, and
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Researchers Find Clue to Why Mesothelioma Tumors Fail to Respond to Immune Activity
Researchers from the Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, in Reggio Emilia, Italy, have published the results of a recent study on why some mesothelioma patients don’t respond well to immunotherapy treatment. The scientists studied 89 mesothelioma samples and discovered that in patients whose cells showed deletion of a gene called CDKN2A, their tumors’
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Combined Therapy Clinical Trial Seeks Mesothelioma Patients
One of medicine’s most enduring challenges is the quest for a more effective treatment for malignant mesothelioma, and Baylor College of Medicine and Duke University have built a reputation for their collaborative work in pursuit of that goal. Scientists from the esteemed institutions have recently announced another groundbreaking clinical trial that will gauge the impact
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Mesothelioma Drug Granted Fast Track Designation
Patients diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma have limited treatment options, but the FDA’s recent approval of fast-track designation for an investigational small molecule therapeutic called VT3989 offers reason for hope. The new treatment, which is specifically designed to treat unresectable malignant pleural or nonpleural mesothelioma that has progressed after prior immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy and platinum-based chemotherapy,
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Jury Orders Johnson & Johnson to Pay $966 Million to Mesothelioma Victim’s Family
Mae Moore was 88 years old when she died of malignant mesothelioma. The wife of a pastor, Moore had used Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder throughout her life and blamed asbestos in the product for her fatal illness. This week, a Los Angeles jury ordered the consumer giant to pay her family almost $1 billion
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Pennsylvania Supreme Court to Consider Mesothelioma Victims’ Argument in Dravo Shipyard Case
Today, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case involving mesothelioma victims and a shipyard’s parent company. The victims want to pursue asbestos exposure claims against Carmeuse Lime Inc., parent company of dissolved shipyard operator Dravo LLC, but a lower court dismissed the case based on statutory time limitations. A split appellate panel
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Study Shows Loose-Fill Asbestos Increases Mesothelioma Risk Copy
A study conducted by researchers in Australia has highlighted the increased risk of a malignant mesothelioma diagnosis for those living in a home insulated with loose-fill asbestos insulation. Though the study was conducted in Australia, its conclusions carry great impact in both the United States and Canada, where asbestos-contaminated insulation was used in millions of
