-
Jury Awards $32 Million After Second-Hand Asbestos Exposure Leads to Woman’s Mesothelioma Death
Kathy Weist was exposed to asbestos repeatedly throughout her 62 years, but it was the toxic fibers her husband carried home from his work that she most blamed for her malignant mesothelioma diagnosis. Mrs. Weist died in 2020, and last month, a South Carolina jury spent four-days listening to her story. At the end of
-
UK Study Shows Promise of Nivolumab Treatment for Relapsed Mesothelioma
Despite the best efforts of researchers and physicians around the world, malignant mesothelioma remains a fatal disease. Still, scientific breakthroughs have extended survival time for many patients, and the introduction of each new protocol has offered hope. A study published last week in The Lancet has shown that treating relapsed mesothelioma with the PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor antibody
-
Mesothelioma Allies Encouraged as EPA and Asbestos Advocacy Group Reach Agreement
It’s been a long time coming, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and advocacy groups including the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) have reached an important agreement regarding the mineral that causes mesothelioma. Activists have been pushing for a comprehensive second risk evaluation for asbestos, and are hailing the new consensus as a victory.
-
German Study Offers Good News to Mesothelioma Patients with Non-Epithelioid Histology
Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a terminal disease, and patients are told that survival rarely exceeds two years. But a variety of factors impact each patient’s specific prognosis, and one is histological subtype. Patients with epithelioid mesothelioma generally respond better to available treatments and have longer survival times than those with non-epithelioid subtypes. But a recent
-
California Bill Inspired by Mesothelioma Victim Becomes Law
Like many other mesothelioma victims, after receiving his terminal diagnosis 82-year-old Alfonso Rocciola filed a personal injury lawsuit against the companies that exposed him to asbestos. But his claim died when he did because under California law the damages he would have won were not available to his survivors. That injustice has been resolved with
-
Judge Approves $100 Million Settlement in Asbestos Lawsuit
For years, people diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, asbestosis, and other asbestos-related diseases sought justice and fair compensation from Englehard Corporation, a subsidiary of BASF. They accused the company of exposing them to asbestos in the talc that they produced. These efforts were blocked by the company’s law firm, which insisted that no evidence existed to
-
Companies Facing Claims for Mesothelioma and Other Asbestos Diseases Agree to $545 Million Settlement
Like many other companies whose products contained asbestos, Aldrich Pump LLC and Murray Boiler LLC have faced tens of thousands of personal injury lawsuits filed by victims of malignant mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. After paying approximately $100 million per year to defend and settle these claims, the companies have agreed to a $545 million
-
Italian Mesothelioma Researchers Highlight Use of Focused Radiation Following Chemotherapy
In a study of the effectiveness of focused radiation following chemotherapy, Italian researchers have found that mesothelioma patients receiving the protocol enjoyed longer periods of progression-free health and a slower return of their tumors.
-
Navy Veteran’s Mesothelioma Death Blamed on Foster Wheeler Boiler Parts
Harold Cox died of malignant pleural mesothelioma on October 8th, 2019, but before he died he and his wife Doris filed a personal injury lawsuit against multiple defendants they blamed for his exposure to asbestos and his subsequent illness. Doris has continued his fight, and recently won a legal victory against boiler manufacturer Foster Wheeler.
-
Can Weighing Mesothelioma Cells Improve Treatment?
Every mesothelioma patient can respond differently to the https://mesothelioma.net/treatment-for-mesothelioma/available treatment protocols based on their cell type, genetics, and their overall health. Currently, doctors looking for the most effective option for an individual patient are limited to waiting to see whether tumor growth stops after a drug is administered. But a group of researchers from MIT
-
Mesothelioma and Other Asbestos-Related Diseases Rising in 9/11 Responders
Days before the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, an Australian research team reported a significant increase in leukemia diagnoses, as well as an increase in asbestos-related lung conditions like malignant mesothelioma, in general responders and firefighters enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program. The study confirmed fears about asbestos contamination at the site and
-
Researchers Search for Answer to Long-Term Mesothelioma Survival
A malignant pleural mesothelioma diagnosis is generally accompanied by a prediction of just 18 months to two years to live, but there are occasional reports of patients who survive for longer periods. A recent case study published by physicians from the Aix-Marseille University in Marseille, France details the 14-year survival of a man with epithelioid
-
Immunotherapy/Chemotherapy Combination May Hold Key to Mesothelioma Treatment
Mesothelioma and other hard-to-treat cancers have proven resistant to nearly every treatment that scientists have devised. But a new vaccine being developed by researchers at Harvard may hold the key to longer survival times by combining the best of two different treatments: chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
-
Second-Hand Mesothelioma Lawsuit Moves Forward Despite Wallboard Company’s Objections
Before Patricia Ann Dumas Jackson died of malignant mesothelioma at the age of 75 she filed a lawsuit against several companies, accusing them of having negligently exposed her to asbestos and causing her illness. Though most of the companies settled with her before trial, Hopeman Brothers, Inc. filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that
-
Mesothelioma Lawsuit Filed Against Multiple Asbestos Companies in Connecticut
A mesothelioma lawsuit has been filed against John Crane Co., General Electric, ViacomCBS, Foster Wheeler and other defendants by the son of Navy veteran Fred Russel Stafford. Michael Stafford is accusing the companies of strict liability in his father’s illness and death, of negligence, of breach of warranty, and of failure to warn of the
-
Could Cancer Without Chemotherapy be the Future for Mesothelioma Patients?
As is true with so many other types of cancers, the first line of treatment for malignant mesothelioma is chemotherapy. Despite its many side effects, most mesothelioma patients receive chemotherapy as part of a multi-modality protocol that adds on surgery and/or radiation therapy. But as newer drugs are developed that approach cancer cells in different
-
UK Study Identifies New Test That Improves Accuracy of Mesothelioma Diagnosis
One of the biggest challenges facing doctors who treat mesothelioma is that accurate diagnosis of the disease can be difficult. The rare form of cancer shares biological traits with many other illnesses, but only responds to certain treatments. Getting the diagnosis wrong can delay any hopes for extended survival or of improving quality of life.
-
eBay Samples at Heart of Appeals Court’s Mesothelioma Decision
When mesothelioma victim Richard Pifer wanted to prove that asbestos in marking chalk was the cause of his illness, he turned to eBay to purchase samples for testing. But the chalk manufacturer, Irwin Industrial Tool, objected to the samples being admitted as evidence. Though a lower court judge agreed and granted the company’s motion for
-
Court Reinstates San Francisco Widow’s Mesothelioma Lawsuit Against Johnson & Johnson
Douglas Strobel and his wife Jo Ann filed suit against Johnson & Johnson shortly after he was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in February of 2019. Though the judge who first heard his case had dismissed the couple’s lawsuit, an appeals court has reinstated it. Mr. Strobel died in April of 2020, but his widow will
-
Careful Patient Screening Essential to Success of Newest Mesothelioma Treatment
It’s been less than a year since the FDA approved the use of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) for first line treatment of malignant mesothelioma, and with each passing day more is learned about its best uses. A report published in the journal EBioMedicine indicates that despite optimism about improved survival time, the immunotherapy drug combination is
