Asbestos use in the United States over the past year has increased by 26 percent compared to 2009, according to the 2012 United States Geological Survey Mineral Commodity Summaries.

Many Americans falsely believe that asbestos use is banned. That’s not true. The mining of asbestos has been banned since 2002. But companies still import a known carcinogen that causes mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that 3,000 Americans are diagnosed with ever year.   

In the past year, the United States has imported 1,100 tons of asbestos. In 2009, it imported 869 tons. According to the report, roofing products accounted for about 60 percent of asbestos products imported, the chloralkali industry used about 35 percent and the rest, about 5 percent, is unknown.

Linda Reinstein, co-founder of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, is calling for a ban on the importation of raw asbestos and asbestos-containing products, on the ADAO blog.

She wrote, “I have lost my husband Alan to Mesothelioma, a disease caused from asbestos exposure. Nothing can bring him or the hundreds of thousands of other victims back to life, but we can begin by aggressively preventing exposure thus eliminating deadly diseases.”

I couldn’t agree more.

As an asbestos attorney, I have seen the damage asbestos exposure causes to individuals and families first-hand. There is no excuse. Every year approximately 10,000 people die from asbestos-related diseases.

As part of our commitment to offering news and information on asbestos exposure and mesothelioma, the lawyers at the Simmons Firm have rounded up some of this week's headlines.

• Additional Mesothelioma Funding through DoD:
  Mesothelioma will again be included on the list of diseases eligible for research funding through the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP). The disease first became eligible to receive funding in 2008 due to the disproportionate rate by which military personnel are affected by mesothelioma. Since this time, the DoD has funded $5.8 million in mesothelioma research.


• Treatment of Mesothelioma Based on Extent of the Cancer:
  This article by the American Cancer Society offers information on mesothelioma treatment options. According to the article, “Mesothelioma can be hard to treat, no matter the stage of the cancer” For this reason it becomes important to understand the goal of the treatment before it begins. In addition to the stage of the disease, the patient’s health and preferences also help the doctor determine the type of treatment available.


• Increasing Asbestos Awareness One Signature at a Time:
  The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) and Canadian Voices of Asbestos Victims (CVAV) have seen success from their petition drive advocating increased awareness of the dangers of asbestos exposure. Currently the petition has received support from more than 500 individuals and 40 organizations. Visit the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization for details or to sign the petition.


• Cause of Lung Cancer in Non-Smokers:
  This article looks at the causes and effects of lung cancer in non-smokers. After smoking, the causes of cancer can include secondhand smoke, exposure to radon gas, exposure to carcinogens at work, and air pollution. While the leading cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is exposure to radon gas, the workplace as a source for exposure to carcinogens, like asbestos and diesel exhaust, has also attributed to a number of diagnoses.


• Industrial Site Being Cleared of Asbestos:
  Demolition work and asbestos removal at an industrial site in Norristown, Pennsylvania is expected to be completed by midsummer. The site, which was purchased as a possible relocation spot for the Norristown Sewage Treatment plant, is currently contaminated with asbestos. The asbestos removal and demolition work is being conducted by the Environmental Consulting Inc. (ECI) of Norristown.

Legislators from sixteen states attended an informational Senate Briefing last week entitled “Asbestos: The Impact on Public Health, the Environment, and the Economy.” The session, organized by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, raised awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure, the seriousness of mesothelioma and encouraged attendees to adopt policy to address this dangerous carcinogen.

The states in attendance were: Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington.  If your state could not make it, ADAO has made the informational briefing materials digitally available here.  Please, feel free to pass them onto your state’s Senate & Representative offices.

In addition, ADAO Co-founder Linda Reinstein and the delegation of asbestos victims and speakers visited several Senate and House offices. Linda, on the ADAO blog, declared the visit a success, saying that “ADAO saw offices embrace bipartisan collaboration” regarding asbestos.

On behalf of everyone here at the Simmons Firm, I’d like to thank Linda, the medical experts, and asbestos victims who put so much time and effort into making the day such a huge success. The work ADAO and other mesothelioma non-profits accomplish for the asbestos community is vitally important on so many levels. We are grateful for they work they do to educate our political leaders, advocate for an asbestos ban, support the asbestos community, and most importantly, stand up for what is right.

As part of our commitment to helping families affected by mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases, the mesothelioma lawyers at the Simmons Firm are offering information on asbestos exposure, mesothelioma diagnosis, and treatment options.

• Potential Therapy for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma:
  A chemotherapy drug has been granted Orphan Drug Designation for the possible treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma. As a ‘novel synthetic compound,’ the drug, CBP501, has been approved for use in combination with Cisplatin. Phase II of this trial was completed in October 2011 and approved in January. Results of this trial should be released this summer, and they may lead to a larger phase III trial.
• ATSDR: Guide on Asbestos Exposure:
  The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) offers information on asbestos, asbestos exposure, and asbestos related illness. This guide from the ASTDR is intended to help people understand the types of illnesses asbestos may cause and provide advice on where to look for additional help and information.
• ADAO Goes To Washington:
  The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) will hold an educational senate briefing, Asbestos: The Impact on Public Health, the Environment, and the Economy. In addition to the briefing, the group of ADAO representatives will meet with government officials with the hopes of offering critical asbestos information, encouraging bipartisan collaboration, and addressing the threat of asbestos.
• Mesothelioma Treatment Research:
  Researchers at the Asbestos Disease Research Institute in Sydney, Australia are reporting that they may have found a possible “Tumor Marker” in patients suffering from mesothelioma and other asbestos related cancers. These markers, which are found in blood or tumor tissues, may offer evidence as to how aggressive the disease is, which in turn may ultimately offer insight into better treatment options.
• Asbestos Found in Nursing Home:
  Parts of a Lehigh Valley, PA nursing home have been shut down after officials discovered high levels of asbestos. While the material was not found to be airborne in any of the patients’ rooms, the nursing home’s maintenance shop, carpenter shop, break room and a storage room have tested positive.
• Asbestos Removal Complete at DOE Site in Ohio:
  A project to remove asbestos from a Department of Energy (DOE) process building near Piketon, OH has been completed. The removal process was the first step in a decontamination and decommissioning process that will result in the demolition of the building.

As part of our commitment to offering news and information concerning asbestos exposure and mesothelioma, the mesothelioma lawyers at the Simmons Firm have rounded up some of this week’s headlines.

• Recent Mesothelioma Treatment Innovations:
  This Brigham and Women’s Hospital article outlines a few innovative treatment options in respect to mesothelioma. Intracavitary chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy, immunotherapy, brachytherapy, and alternative medicines are among the mesothelioma treatment options discussed in the article.
• Mesothelioma Patients Chosen to Review Federal Funding Program
  Three mesothelioma patients, nominated by the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation and accepted through the Department of Defense (DoD), will serve as consumer reviewers for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP). Funded and directed by the DoD, the CDRMP distributes research funding for diseases that disproportionately affect veterans. The goal of this consumer review panel is to ensure that the needs of those veterans affected by mesothelioma are recognized.
• ADAO's 8th Annual International Asbestos Awareness Conference Scheduled:
  The ADAO will host its 8th annual asbestos awareness conference, “Asbestos: An International Public Health Crisis,” from March 30 – April 1, 2012. Bringing together leaders from around the globe, the focus of the conference is to discuss how asbestos has impacted public health, the environment, and the economy. The Simmons Firm is proud to support ADAO.
• Asbestos Exposure Danger in Yakima Valley
  After a fire destroyed two restaurants in Yakima Valley, WA last spring, residents have become aware of the presence of asbestos in a number of the area’s older buildings. Scheduled building demolition projects that may require the removal of asbestos include the Safari and El Conquistador restaurants as well as the Eisenhower High School.
• Asbestos Exposure and the Dangers of Home Improvement
  This ABC report warns against the hidden dangers of home improvement. Due to its one-time popularity as a favorite building material, many older homes were constructed with asbestos. Because asbestos exposure is directly linked to mesothelioma, lung cancer and other asbestos related diseases, people who decide to take on “do-it-yourself projects” may place themselves at risk.

Please note that if you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, the mesothelioma lawyers from the Simmons Law Firm are here to offer guidance, information and legal counsel. We are committed to helping families affected by mesothelioma and are a leading supporter of mesothelioma research throughout the country. For more information, call our law firm today for a free consultation at 1-866-468-8631 or contact us online.

• Asbestos Found in Little Rock, Arkansas
  

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has conducted asbestos testing in Conley Park and the former North Little Rock Auto Salvage Center. The North Little Rock Salvage Site, which operated from 1953 to 1989, was used as a vermiculite processing facility. The vermiculite came from a mine located in Libby, Montana, which was later found to be infected with asbestos. The EPA is reporting that some asbestos contamination has been found in both the old processing plant as well as parts of the surrounding area.

• Meso Research Foundation Continues Mission to Eradicate Mesothelioma
  

Throughout the year 2011, the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation continued its efforts towards increasing awareness of mesothelioma cancer and increasing funding towards the development of new mesothelioma treatment  advancements. In addition to funding its research programs, the foundation’s many efforts included providing patient service programs, advocating in Washington for funding, and leading local-centric awareness campaigns in cities, towns, and states around the United States. The Simmons Firm is proud to support the Meso Foundation.

• Asbestos-Warning Signs Alert Buffalo Residents 

Residents of a Buffalo apartment complex were alarmed when asbestos-warning signs were suddenly posted at their Marine Drive Apartment building. The signs, which were initially posted without any further notice, left residents wondering if they were at risk for asbestos exposure. These warnings were a result of asbestos materials being found and removed from the apartment complex in August. The warning notices also confirmed the possible presence of asbestos containing materials being present throughout the building, including floor tile, linoleum, plaster ceilings, heating pipes and caulking. Officials are noting that currently only common areas, the boiler room and the maintenance room are affected. 

• PHOTOFRIN® for Mesothelioma Treatment Receives FDA Approval
  

Pinnacle Biologics, Inc., a bio-pharmaceutical company, has received FDA approval for an Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) for their product PHOTOFRIN® (porfimer sodium). Pinnacle will evaluate the current clinical data, in hopes to bring this important treatment option to patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

• Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization Announces Honorees:  Dedicated to providing education, advocacy and community initiatives for asbestos victims, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) has announced its honorees and keynote speaker for the 8th Annual International Asbestos Awareness Conference. The event, which will be held March 30 to April 1, 2012 in Los Angeles, CA, will bring together experts, activists and asbestos victims in one single forum. The focus of which is to enhance asbestos awareness, education, treatment, and collaboration. The Simmons Firm is proud to support ADAO.
  

Please note that if you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, the mesothelioma lawyers from the Simmons Law Firm are here to offer guidance, information and legal counsel. We are committed to helping families affected by mesothelioma and are a leading supporter of mesothelioma research throughout the country.  For more information, call our law firm today for a free consultation at 1-866-468-8631 or contact us online. 

Simmons Firm client dies of mesothelioma exactly 70 years after surviving Pearl Harbor attack

A hero died last week. Of course, he wouldn’t consider himself a hero. Most never do.

Frank Curre was one of the last surviving veterans of Pearl Harbor. He died Dec. 7, 2011, the 70^th Anniversary of the attack. Frank was 88 years-old and died of mesothelioma, a rare but almost always fatal cancer caused by asbestos exposure.

I had the privilege of meeting Frank over a year ago and serving as his family’s lawyer.

As Frank aged, his memory began to fail him. He’d say that he couldn’t remember what he read in the paper that morning. But he always remembered what happened the day of Pearl Harbor.

Anyone who met Frank was touched by his memories. He’d been recounting them for years to family, friends, reporters and school children.  His stories never grew old. Listeners said his words, descriptions of what happened, put you right there on the deck of his ship during the attack.

The morning of Dec. 7, 1941, he was working as a mess cook on the USS Tennessee.  He heard two huge, consecutive blasts. By the time he reached the deck, a bomb had destroyed the USS Arizona.

“That ship come 12-15 foot in the air, broke in two and settled back down,” Frank said this past November in an NPR interview. “If you’d had a bag of popcorn and you’d went out here in the breeze and threw it up in the air – that was bodies that went out all over the harbor.”

Those memories – those nightmares – would never leave him. Everything that happened that day was tattooed on his soul.

I remember receiving a call from Frank’s daughter Linda this past October. He wasn’t going to make it much longer, she said. Much to our surprise, Veteran’s Day came and went, and we began to think, maybe, he was meant to hold on.

"It's like he held on for today, which is his special day," Linda told the family’s local newspaper on Dec. 7.

It was his special day, and he did his best to make sure it was everyone else’s special day as well. When anyone called him a hero, he pointed to the men and women who died that day. They are the real heroes, he said. He spent 70 years telling their stories and keeping their memories alive.

Technology will now take over for Frank. You can listen to his stories, told in his own words, at NPR’s StoryCorps.

Click here to listen to Frank tell the story of Pearl Harbor.