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Woman Blames Late Husband’s Workplace for Her Mesothelioma
After she was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma, Verna Brewer filed a personal injury lawsuit against her late husband’s former employer, BOC Group, Inc. She blames asbestos carried home on his clothing after work each day for her illness, but the company believes that her asbestos exposure came in subsequent years, after his death. The
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West Virginia Court Reverses Workers’ Compensation Board’s Mesothelioma Decision
In October 2020, Spencer Thurman Cantrell died of malignant mesothelioma. His widow, Mildred, filed a workers’ compensation claim for dependent benefits against his former employer, Adams Mfg. Co. When the company’s claims administrator denied the claim, she protested the decision to the workers’ compensation board, which affirmed the administrator’s decision. Undaunted, Mrs. Cantrell appealed that
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Asbestos Violations that Risked Mesothelioma Lead to Million-Dollar Fines
Mesothelioma advocates and asbestos activists are constantly warning of the dangers of legacy asbestos, and recent events in California show that their concerns are justified. The District Attorney’s Office of Santa Clara County, along with sister offices in Monterey, Alameda, San Francisco, and Sonoma counties, recently took action against a senior living facility that failed
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Man’s Fear of Mesothelioma Leads to Firing
Cleveland Stegall was an information technology worker for Fiat Chrysler when he voiced concerns about asbestos in his workplace and the risk of malignant mesothelioma. When the company failed to act, he reported the hazards to state and federal authorities and was fired. Since then, multiple courts have weighed in on the protections offered to
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Researchers Report Positive Response to Immunotherapy in Peritoneal Mesothelioma Patient
Last week, a group of French researchers published a case study that will capture the attention of mesothelioma physicians and patients alike. Presented with inoperable malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in a 74-year-old patient, the team offered the dual immunotherapy protocol of nivolumab and ipilimumab as first-line therapy. The results were extremely encouraging.
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86-Year-Old Contractor Awarded Millions After Mesothelioma Diagnosis
In the decades that contractor Frank Gondar spent doing home renovation projects, he never dreamed that his work would lead to a diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma. When he took his story to a New York jury and asked them to punish the companies responsible, they responded with a $22 million damages award.
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Appellate Court Upholds $9 Million Mesothelioma Verdict Against Grinder Manufacturer
Does a manufacturer whose equipment is designed to be used on asbestos-containing products have a duty to warn of the risk of malignant mesothelioma? That’s the question that a New York jury was asked in a personal injury lawsuit filed by Walter Miller against Hennessy Industries. The jury responded with a resounding yes, and when
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Court of Appeals Affirms $10 Million Punitive Damages Mesothelioma Award
After a St. Louis jury ordered them to pay a Navy widow $1.5 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages following her husband’s malignant mesothelioma death, Crane Co. appealed the decision. The company argued that Jeannette G. Poage had failed to meet her burden of proof on her claim and that the
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Navy Widow Prevails, Court Affirms $5 Million Punitive Damages Mesothelioma Award
Navy veteran George Coulbourn died of malignant mesothelioma after years of exposure to asbestos in his role as a machinist. He filed a product liability claim against gasket company John Crane, and after his death, his widow Sandra continued the claim as a wrongful death lawsuit. At trial, the jury awarded her $9 million in
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Judge Denies Asbestos Company Arguments in Mesothelioma Claim
When John Pruitt was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, he took legal action against the companies that had provided asbestos-containing materials to the ships on which he had served during his time in the U.S. Navy. Though two of the companies objected to a magistrate judge’s reports and recommendations regarding dismissing the case, an appellate court
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Court Denies Asbestos Companies’ Request to Dismiss Lung Cancer Widow’s Claim
Leona Rhoades’s husband Dewey died of asbestos-related lung cancer after decades of working as a mechanical repair worker on U.S. Navy ships and other job sites. She filed a wrongful death lawsuit against 43 asbestos companies, accusing them of negligently exposing him to asbestos. The three defendants who remained filed motions for summary judgment, asking
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Mesothelioma Researchers Identify Inactivated Gene as Potential Therapeutic Target
Researchers are constantly searching for new, more effective ways to treat malignant pleural mesothelioma, the rare and deadly form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. While some focus on applying existing protocols in new ways and combinations, others are examining the disease at a cellular level to see if they can find new vulnerabilities.
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Asbestos Company Execs Transfer Assets to Avoid Mesothelioma Liability
Recent legal activities in a federal court in Connecticut are revealing an insidious plot by asbestos company executives to avoid paying claims to victims of malignant mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. There are two parallel cases filed by the company’s bankruptcy trustee: One accuses the executives of conflicts of interest and concealing their transfer of
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Study Finds FDG-PET/CT and CT Both Provide Accurate Mesothelioma Evaluation
Patients diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma go through a series of tests to determine the best course of action and path forward. For those whose tumors are deemed unresectable – or unable to be removed surgically – treatment options are limited to medical and radiation therapies. A recent study examined the ability of both FDG-PET/CT and
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Study Confirms Validity of Previous Mesothelioma Staging Model
Though patients suspected of having mesothelioma may believe that treatment will start as soon as the illness is identified, confirmation of the disease sets off a new set of processes, the most important of which may be staging. Doctors must determine how far the disease has progressed to create the best possible treatment plan to
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NCI Immunotherapy Study Offers Hope for Mesothelioma Patients
A small clinical trial conducted by researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is offering hope to patients diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma and other metastatic solid tumors. The study showed that a new cellular immunotherapy approach may produce lymphocytes with receptors that recognize and attack specific types of cancer cells.
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Washington State Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Mesothelioma Case
After a trial court dismissed his mesothelioma claim and that decision was upheld by an appellate court, Jeffrey Cockrum asked the highest court in Washington state to weigh in on his claim. At issue is whether an employer’s knowledge that exposure to asbestos causes illness provides an exception to the rules precluding personal injury claims
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Glasgow Mesothelioma Researcher Offers Vision for Increased Understanding
In an insightful article published in the journal Open Access Government, Dr. Daniel J. Murphy of the University of Glasgow School of Cancer Sciences suggests that more robust use of mouse models of mesothelioma may hold the key to predicting which individuals exposed to asbestos are most likely to develop the rare, asbestos-related disease.
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Navy Veteran’s Mesothelioma Lawsuit Highlights Ubiquitous Use of Asbestos
It is well known that America’s military veterans, particularly those who served in the Navy before 1980, are at significant risk following constant exposure to asbestos. A recently filed suit accusing over a dozen asbestos companies of negligence highlights the sheer number of asbestos-containing materials a single service member encountered on a day-to-day basis.
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Mesothelioma Victim’s Charge Against Johnson & Johnson Survives Summary Judgment
Ashley Johnson blames her malignant epithelioid mesothelioma diagnosis on her use of Johnson & Johnson talc powder products. When she filed a lawsuit against the company and its subsidiary LTL management in Louisiana, she accused the companies of both a construction/composition defect and nonconformity to an express warranty, in addition to failure to warn and
