Asbestos: A Lesson in Shame

Cancer Monthly, LLC

How can a tiny mineral kill tens of thousands of people and cost industry billions of dollars?

It's actually pretty simple when the mineral is a carcinogen called asbestos and companies tried to hide its dangers.

Outrageous Behavior Leads to Death Sentences

We are all vulnerable when companies act outrageously. If a corporation discovers that its products contain a substance that is dangerous to human health we want companies to do the right thing and warn employees and consumers and get the danger out of the product fast. But history has shown that such expectations are often unrealistic.

We have all heard about the exploding Ford Pinto and the more recent children's toys from China filled with lead, but asbestos is the classic example of industry's greed, belligerence, and criminal behavior that kills innocent people.

Asbestos was put into thousands of products - cigarette filters, hair dryers, brakes, basement and roof materials, pipes, boilers, insulation, and many other products found throughout the home and at work. Millions of people were exposed to this carcinogen and, as a result, many have been diagnosed with asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. These diseases tend to be incurable and deadly. For example, people with mesothelioma generally have a life expectancy of less than a year.

"Deadly Hug" from Parents to Children

Children were also vulnerable especially if the parent worked with or near asbestos. Parents would often bring the dust home on their clothes. The so-called "deadly hug" would follow. Children greeted their parents with a hug and the dust would be transferred from parent to child. Many of these children are also diagnosed with asbestos caused diseases years later.

Chronology of Shame

The following are just a sample of events that occurred that provided companies with knowledge that asbestos was dangerous. This information comes primarily from two books: "Outrageous Misconduct: The Asbestos Industry on Trial," written by Paul Brodeur and "Asbestos: Medical and Legal Aspects," written by Barry I. Castleman.

• 1922: Louis Dublin, a statistician for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, writes that asbestos workers are at risk of injury to the lungs.


• 1930: One major asbestos company, Johns-Manville, produces a report, for internal company use only, detailing the fatalities and medical injuries of asbestos workers.


• 1932: A letter from the United States Bureau of Mines to asbestos manufacturer Eagle-Picher states, "It is now known that asbestos dust is one of the most dangerous dusts to which man is exposed."
  
• 1933: Metropolitan Life Insurance Company doctors find that 29% of the workers at one Johns-Manville plant are suffering from asbestosis. Johns-Manville settles lawsuits by eleven employees on the condition that the lawyer for the employees agrees that he will not bring any new actions against Johns-Manville.


• 1934: Officials at Johns-Manville and Raybestos Manhattan, rewrite an article about the diseases of asbestos workers written by a Metropolitan Life Insurance Company doctor to minimize the danger of asbestos dust.


• 1935: Johns-Manville and Raybestos Manhattan instruct the editor of Asbestos Magazine to publish nothing about asbestosis.
  
• 1936: A group of asbestos companies agree to sponsor research on the health effects of asbestos dust, but require that the companies have complete control over the disclosure of the results.
  
• 1942: An Owens Corning corporate memorandum refers to "medical literature on asbestosis . . . [and] scores of publications in which the lung and skin hazards of asbestos are discussed."
  
• 1942-43: The president of Johns-Manville says that the managers of another company were "a bunch of fools for notifying employees who had asbestosis." When one of the people in attendance ask, "Do you mean to tell me you would let them work until they drop dead?" According to deposition testimony, the response was, "Yes. We save a lot of money that way."
  
• 1944: Metropolitan Life Insurance Company finds 42 cases of asbestosis among 195 asbestos miners.
  
• 1944: The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that asbestos is one of the "agents known or suspected to cause occupational cancer."
  
• 1951: Asbestos companies remove all references to cancer before allowing publication of research they sponsor concerning exposure to asbestos.
  
• 1953: National Gypsum's safety director wrote to the Indiana Division of Industrial Hygiene, recommending that acoustic plaster mixers wear respirators "because of the asbestos used on the product." Another company official notes that the letter was "full of dynamite," and urges that the letter be retrieved before reaching its destination. A memo from those files notes that the company "succeeded in stopping" the letter which "will be modified."
  
• 1964: Dr. Irving Selikoff publishes a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, proving that people who work with asbestos containing materials have an abnormal incidence of asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma.
  
• 1989 and 1991: In 1989, the United States Environmental Protection Agency bans asbestos and most of its uses, but, in 1991, asbestos companies win a federal lawsuit which overturns the EPA's asbestos ban.

Civil Liability "Hits Them Where They Hurt"

You can only keep a secret so long. These facts and many others finally did come out. Because workers and consumers were exposed to asbestos thanks to the outrageous behavior of these companies, these corporations were now exposed to civil liability costing billions of dollars. But money, no matter how much, does not reimburse for a dead father or mother or brother or sister. More than anything, the money hits corporations where they hurt. It punishes them because for decades they placed profits above human life.

Lessons in Shame?

But, you will note that while the EPA tried to ban asbestos in this country, some asbestos companies were able to overturn the ban. This means that asbestos, albeit in much smaller concentrations, is still used in some products in the U.S. especially products imported from countries with lax environmental rules.

So what are the lessons? They are not new. One is that companies will act belligerently, irresponsibly and dangerously if they decide it is in their best interest to do so. Another lesson is that even when the truth comes out, it does not mean that the problem goes away. Asbestos is still here and people are being diagnosed with asbestos caused disease, including deadly cancers, from exposure decades before.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DISCLAIMER: This website is owned and managed by Cancer Monthly LLC. All of the information provided on this website is for informational purposes only. Neither Cancer Monthly nor this website renders medical advice or professional services. This website is not a substitute for professional medical advice, examination, diagnosis or treatment. This website should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease and it is not a substitute for professional care. You should always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health professional before starting any new treatment or making any changes to an existing treatment. You should not delay in seeking or disregard medical advice based on information on this website. Some information may be out of date. This website provides links to other websites for convenience only. Cancer Monthly is not responsible for the availability or content of these external websites, nor does Cancer Monthly endorse, warrant or guarantee the products, services or information described or offered at these other websites.

MIAMI ATTORNEY SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS

15 YEARS FOR MISAPPROPRIATING $13.5 MILLION IN CLIENT SETTLEMENT MONEY

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today that defendant Louis S. Robles, 59, was sentenced before U.S. District Court Judge Alan S. Gold today to 15 years of imprisonment, and was ordered to pay $13,522,159.92 in restitution to the victims of his offenses, followed by three years of supervised release. Robles was previously charged with three (3) counts of mail fraud in connection with his misappropriation of $13.5 million of settlement monies from clients afflicted with asbestos-related injuries and illnesses.

According to the written statement of facts filed on September 18, 2007 by the U.S. Attorney's Office in connection with Robles's guilty plea, Robles was a Miami-based lawyer who represented clients who suffered from asbestos-related illness or injuries in lawsuits against companies that manufactured, distributed, or used asbestos. From the late 1980s through February 2003, Robles represented more than 7,000 asbestos clients. Starting as early as at least April 1994, Robles misappropriated settlement proceeds from trust accounts that he maintained on behalf of his asbestos clients.

According to the written statement of facts, Robles defrauded his asbestos clients through a pyramid-type scheme. Asbestos clients from whom Robles would misappropriate settlement proceeds would not be paid until after Robles misappropriated settlement proceeds from other clients. Because of Robles's continuing misappropriation of asbestos client funds, his asbestos clients experienced ever-increasing delays in receiving settlement proceeds, as Robles defrauded them of ever-increasing sums. By March 1996, Robles had misappropriated approximately $3 million in asbestos client settlement proceeds. By September 30, 2002, the total had grown to $13,522,159.92, which represents the sum that Robles siphoned from a total of 4,393 defrauded clients. In an attempt to stem off complaints from his defrauded asbestos clients, Robles sent out newsletters that falsely claimed that he was withholding settlement proceeds until the various clients' suits were settled against all asbestos defendants who had been sued on behalf of the clients.

According to court records, Robles used the misappropriated funds for purposes that included financing his personal lifestyle expenses. These included supporting his 9,000 square-foot waterfront home on Key Biscayne, Florida, that carried a monthly mortgage of over $48,000. Robles also paid substantial sums for domestic help and other household expenses and improvements on the property. At different times during the fraud scheme, Robles and his then-wife were spending over $2 million dollars annually in mortgage payments and various living and travel expenses. Robles also invested and lost millions of dollars in various start-up ventures in the motion picture business, the recording business, and the waste management and recycling business.

United States Attorney R. Alexander Acosta stated, “Attorney Louis Robles abused the special trust that his clients placed in him. Robles sought out clients who were dying and cheated them out of millions of dollars, so that he could finance his own extravagant lifestyle. We hope that today’s sentence and court-ordered restitution will alleviate some of the suffering he caused to asbestos victims and their families.”

FBI Special Agent in Charge Jonathan I. Solomon stated, “Robles had a fiduciary responsibility to his clients to ensure that settlement funds were handled properly. The money was not to be used as his own personal piggy bank, funding a luxurious lifestyle on the backs of his clients' misfortune. The FBI will continue to give top priority to these types of cases that have such a tremendous impact on so many individuals.”

Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Acosta also expressed appreciation for the assistance of the Florida Bar. The FBI's investigation was launched following a referral from the Florida Bar that stemmed from its investigation into Robles's billing practices. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael S. Davis, Luis M. Pérez, and Charles E. Duross, with the assistance of Financial Auditor Harold Weiss, also of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov

How many will die before the mesothelioma dust settles?

Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Connie Schultz
Plain Dealer Columnist

It happens in large families all the time: Parents organize kids by age and ability and divvy up the chores.

Kati Maloney was the second-oldest daughter of eight, and her job was the laundry. Week after week, she gathered and sorted the clothes in the family's basement on Cleveland's West Side.

Her father's work clothes took extra effort. She'd grab one shirt at a time, turn her head and shake. With every snap, dust particles from asbestos filled the air.

Week after week, Kati breathed in the dust.

Four decades later, Kati couldn't breathe anymore.

Kathleen Maloney LoPresti died at 55 from mesothelioma, the same asbestos-related disease that killed her father and her uncle. Unlike her dad, she never worked directly with the deadly "magic mineral."
But she took good enough care of him for it to kill her anyway.

The question looms: How many more Kati's are there?

"We know the secondary victims of asbestos are out there," said Dr. Pasi Janne, a thoracic oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and one of Kati's doctors. "We don't know how many there are, and we don't know yet if they're mostly women."

It may be getting easier to connect the dots from what we do know.

So far, mostly white, male laborers get mesothelioma, Janne said. They were the guys who got the better-paying, often union, jobs that exposed them to asbestos, which also increased their chances of lung cancer.

HOME

Mesothelioma facts

1. Mesothelioma usually appears in the outer lining of the lungs and the chest cavity, the lining of the abdominal cavity, and/or in the sac that surrounds the heart.
2. The symptoms of mesothelioma might not appear until 30 to 50 years after a person has been exposed to asbestos.
3. Surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy are standard treatment options.
4. About 10,000 Americans die each year as a result of asbestos exposure.

HOME

Understanding Asbestos Exposure

Asbestos fibers do not evaporate into air or dissolve in water. However, pieces of fibers can enter the air and water from the weathering of natural deposits and the wearing down of manufactured asbestos products. Small diameter fibers and fiber-containing particles may remain suspended in the air for a long time and be carried long distances by wind or water currents before settling. Larger diameter fibers and particles tend to settle more quickly.

Asbestos fibers are not able to move through soil. They are generally not broken down to other compounds in the environment and will remain virtually unchanged over long periods. However, the most common form of asbestos, chrysotile, may have some minor mineral loss in acidic environments. Asbestos fibers may break into shorter pieces or separate into a larger number of individual fibers as a result of physical processes. When asbestos fibers are breathed in, they may get trapped in the lungs.

Levels of fibers in lung tissue build up over time, but some fibers, particularly chrysotile fibers, can be removed from or degraded in the lung with time. Please see the toxicological profile for more information on the behavior of asbestos in the environment.

HOME

New statistics unveiled by the Health and Safety Executive show an increase in the number of people who have died from mesothelioma.

The figures released this week show more than 2,000 North East people died from the disease from 1985 to 2004. The figure is increased from 1701 deaths from 1981 to 2000.

Additionally the statistics from the Mesothelioma Register show more women than ever are affected by the disease, with 251 deaths during the period compared to 216.

Ian McFall, head of asbestos policy at Thompsons Solicitors, said: "These figures once again highlight the devastation asbestos has inflicted on people in the North East. Many of those affected worked in shipyards, factories or building sites and were given no protection or warning about the risks of asbestos exposure despite their employers being fully aware of the dangers.

"Although shocking, these figures come as no surprise given the widespread use of asbestos in the past. Sadly, the number of people who will die from this disease will continue to rise until 2020."

HOME

Woman Suffers From Mesothelioma

HOME

The Role of Radiotherapy in the Treatment of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

K. Waite and D. Gilligan
Oncology Centre, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK

Radiation therapy for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma has historically been limited by its efficacy. However, the increasing incidence of this tumour and the emergence of new technologies present a number of opportunities and challenges for this treatment modality. Radiotherapy is used to palliate mesothelioma patients with chest wall pain.

Responses of over 60% have been seen, although the duration of response is often disappointing. The optimum dose has not been shown and many of the previous studies were small retrospective studies. An improved response has been seen in several studies where hyperthermia was added to radiotherapy. However, further investigation of this technique, which is not widely available, is required. There has not been any comparison of radiotherapy with chemotherapy in the palliation of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Prophylactic chest wall radiotherapy to intervention sites successfully reduces the incidence of malignant seeding along the intervention tracts. However, the optimum dose and timing of treatment are not clear. There is no role for radical radiotherapy alone, but the role of radiotherapy as part of multimodality therapy is discussed. There have been studies of intensity-modulated radiotherapy as part of multimodality therapy and this technique needs to be evaluated further.

HOME

ToxFAQs™ for Asbestos

ToxFAQs™ for Asbestos
PDF Version, 34 KB

HOME

How can asbestos affect my health?

Asbestos mainly affects the lungs and the membrane that surrounds the lungs. Breathing high levels of asbestos fibers for a long time may result in scar-like tissue in the lungs and in the pleural membrane (lining) that surrounds the lung. This disease is called asbestosis and is usually found in workers exposed to asbestos, but not in the general public. People with asbestosis have difficulty breathing, often a cough, and in severe cases heart enlargement. Asbestosis is a serious disease and can eventually lead to disability and death.

Breathing lower levels of asbestos may result in changes called plaques in the pleural membranes. Pleural plaques can occur in workers and sometimes in people living in areas with high environmental levels of asbestos. Effects on breathing from pleural plaques alone are not usually serious, but higher exposure can lead to a thickening of the pleural membrane that may restrict breathing.

HOME

Diagnosis of Mesothelioma

The onset of mesothelioma symptoms usually takes a long time. The first symptom is often a constant chest pain. This pain is later accompanies by difficulty breathing due to an accumulation of fluid in the chest. Other symptoms include coughing, fever and weight loss. Mesothelioma can be diagnosed by your doctor with a chest CT-scan.

What Needs to Happen?
After a positive mesothelioma diagnosis, your doctor will discuss the available treatment options. Many newer treatments promise to improve patients quality of life and add several years of life. What may not be explained the that the disease is not a random act of nature, but the result of a dangerous product that was used despite evidence of the harm it would cause. Companies have had to pay workers billions of dollars to compensate them and their families for this wanton disregard of human life and safety.

Will there be a lawsuit?
Most people are reluctant to take legal action. However, Mesothelioma presents a nearly 100% certainty that someone or a company is at fault. If the person's work history can be traced, the likelihood is that a very large settlement awaits the victim. Your attorney can explain the details, but most claims settle out of court very quickly, unlike many other types of cases.

How much will I get?
The amount of the settlements varies greatly, but usually start at half million to several million. The award is based on many factors such as the amount of funds available, the duration and location of the asbestos exposure, the persons overall health. Your attorney will know how to maximize the recovery to get the most compensation for you and your family.

HOME

Asbestos exposure causes mesothelioma

Although asbestos exposure causes mesothelioma, it has a latency period after exposure that could last 15 to 50 years. This means that someone who worked in a factory with asbestos 40 years ago could be developing mesothelioma now. Anyone who knows they were exposed to loose asbestos fibers should be tested regularly for mesothelioma.

HOME

What causes mesothelioma?

Virtually all cases of mesothelioma are related to inhaling of asbestos fibers. There are about 3,000 cases per year (mostly men over the age of 40) and there will be about 300,000 cases before 2030. Mesothelioma usually spreads rapidly through the mesothelial cells to the heart and abdominal organs. The life span is typically 24 months after diagnosis, but it depends on what stage the cancer is detected, the health of the patient and other factors.

What is Mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is the term used to describe a cancerous tumor that involves the mesothelial cells of an organ. Mesothelial cells are cells that form a protective lining over the lungs, heart and abdominal organs. The most common type of mesothelioma is pleural mesothelioma.

The pleura is a thin membrane found between the lungs and the chest cavity.

It provides a lubricated surface so that the lungs do not rub and chafe against the chest walls.