Commentary and insight about the complex legal, medical and social issues surrounding mesothelioma, asbestos and more.

Simmons Law Firm

Founded in 1999, the Simmons Law Firm is a leading national law firm in the fight against mesothelioma and other cases of corporate wrongdoing. Our attorneys have extensive experience in asbestos litigation and have represented thousands of individuals and families throughout the country.

The Simmons Law Firm stands on a strong foundation of values and a track record of success. With more than 10 years of service to our clients and our communities, we have a dedicated staff of over 200 people that are ready to give you the attention and respect you deserve.

A Real Life Super Hero: Janelle Bedel's Fight Against Mesothelioma Cancer Inspires 'Wonder' Among Meso Community

June 6, 2013

Homegrown social media campaign grows rapidly in support of Wonder Woman with mesothelioma

 

Today is Wonder Woman Day in Rushville, Indiana. The town’s mayor made the declaration Monday in honor of Rushville resident and mesothelioma patient Janelle Bedel. A portion of today’s sales from the Rushville Hardee’s will benefit Janelle who plans to donate the funds to the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization.

The declaration is the culmination of an outpouring of community support for Janelle and her family after they announced her decision to enter hospice. Since then, thousands of people have changed their Facebook profile picture to the Wonder Woman logo in honor Janelle and her work to raise awareness of mesothelioma.

Janelle was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2007 at the age of 31. Her son was 4. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Sadly, its typical survival rate is 6 to 14 months. Janelle underwent multiple procedures, surgeries and chemotherapy to extend her life. Her local paper followed her story and the town rallied to support her.

After her diagnosis, Janelle bought a Wonder Woman shirt at her local Goodwill. She and her family adopted it as their own symbol of resilience and strength beyond that of just the average woman.  Janelle took her fight against mesothelioma to the streets and became a hero to the mesothelioma community in the process.

She organized several events to raise awareness of mesothelioma including two Miles for Meso events that raised thousands of dollars for research. In addition, she also helped lobby on Capitol Hill for a national Mesothelioma Awareness Day. Along with her effort and many others, the U.S. Congress has since officially recognized Sept. 26 as National Mesothelioma Awareness Day. 

In the six years since her diagnosis, she has not only beaten the odds, but has inspired thousands to continue advocating for a mesothelioma cure and an asbestos ban.

To honor Janelle’s heroic fight against mesothelioma, the Simmons Firm has changed its Facebook profile picture to the Wonder Woman logo. She is a huge inspiration to us, and we encourage everyone to join us in honor of Janelle and her mission to continue to raise awareness of mesothelioma and the dangers of asbestos exposure.

 Click here to learn more about Janelle's support of ADAO.

Click here to read about Wonder Woman Day and Janelle's inspiring story.

Comments (0)

Asbestos and Mesothelioma Updates: May 2013

May 31, 2013

The mesothelioma lawyers at the Simmons Firm have brought together recent headlines highlighting the dangers of asbestos exposure and new information concerning mesothelioma research from throughout the nation and world.

  • Asbestos removed as athletes swim on Asbestos is being removed from the outside of the Australian Institute of Sport Aquatic Centre as the country’s elite swimmers continue to practice inside the building. Daily tests are being conducted to make sure there are no asbestos fibers in the air around the worksite.

Comments (0)

Coldwater Creek: St. Louis Magazine Op-Ed Piece Reflects Outrage of Sick Residents

May 29, 2013

A compelling opinion piece about the contamination of Coldwater Creek in North St. Louis County was published in the June edition of St. Louis Magazine. On newsstands this past week, “The Poisoned Children of Coldwater Creek” by Ray Hartmann is critical of the media and the Missouri state government.

But if the media is unhelpful, Missouri state government is worse. Apparently in response to some public outcry, the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services issued a report in March claiming there was no health problem near Coldwater Creek and essentially blaming the victims for bad lifestyle choices.

…The “experts” studied some health data in a handful of ZIP codes between 1996 and 2004, meaning at best they considered the wrong people. As a horde of angry critics pointed out, there’s great turnover in North County residency.

The large majority of real victims no longer live in the studied area, and as much as 75 percent of the area’s residents have moved in so recently that their histories meant nothing to the issue. The study made no effort whatsoever to track the experiences of the generation whose tragic stories…”
are happening now.

The piece mirrors the outrage of residents who have watched as their neighbors, friends and family become sick within the past five years from exposure to the toxic creek decades ago. Residents have reported more than 2,500 cases of cancer, autoimmune diseases and birth defects. They include higher than average reports of rare diseases like brain cancer, thyroid cancer, appendix cancer and more.

Click here to read the full piece on St. Louis Magazine’s website >>>

Comments (0)

Asbestos Litigation History: The Cover-Up

May 21, 2013

Asbestos has been used for thousands of years. Although it is sometimes assumed that the health hazards of asbestos have only been known for the past century, this is not the case. The dangers of asbestos exposure came to light as far back as the year 100 AD, when Roman Naturalist Pliny the Elder wrote about the gruesome consequences he witnessed among slaves at asbestos jobsites. In his work Natural History, Pliny the Elder noted the quick, painful deaths brought on by respiratory diseases among the slaves who had worked with asbestos. 

 
By the 1930s there was a definitive link between asbestos exposure and serious respiratory illnesses. At this time, doctors began warning factory managers, mine owners and asbestos manufacturers of the health risks associated with asbestos. Despite these warnings, executives failed to act. They continued to expose their workers to the toxic mineral without protective gear. 
 
As more and more employees became ill after asbestos exposure, asbestos manufacturing executives failed to acknowledge the issue and instead chose to cover up the problem. They destroyed doctor’s notes, health reports, and safety memos detailing the dangers of asbestos. Rather than choosing to acknowledge the health risks and provide necessary protective gear, executives offered compensation to employees with health problems linked to asbestos exposure at the workplace. They did this quietly, forcing employees to not disclose the cause of the illness to others. 
 
An example of this involved the company Johns-Manville. In 1934, officials of the company edited an article written by a Metropolitan Life Insurance Company physician on the asbestos-related diseases suffered by Johns-Manville employees. Similar types of cover-ups continued for years. In 1952, Kenneth Smith, Johns-Manville medical director, recommended warning labels be put on asbestos products. His recommendation was turned down based on “financial implications of lost sales”. 
 
Additionally, a former Chairman of the Paterson Industrial Commission named Charles Roemer met with President of Johns-Manville Vandiver Brown to discuss the asbestos issue and recent changes in the X-rays of the lungs of employees. Brown told Roemer that it was Johns-Manville’s policy to do nothing about the asbestos issue and to not tell employees about the X-ray findings
 
Over time, labor and trade unions began working for safer working environments for employees in these industries. It was during this time that secret documents revealing massive asbestos cover-ups were exposed, putting major corporations and executives in the spotlight. These secret documents were known as the Sumner Simpson papers, and they provided indisputable evidence that the asbestos industry knew about the health dangers of asbestos exposure without necessary protective gear. 
 
As a result of a working American justice system, the dangers of asbestos exposure were brought to light and subsequent safety regulations were implemented at the federal and state level to ensure a safer working environment for all. Although asbestos is not banned in the United States, progress has been made to raise awareness of the health hazards of asbestos exposure without necessary protective gear. 
 
Learn more about asbestos in the workplace.

Comments (0)

Did You Know? Asbestos Litigation History Facts

May 16, 2013

The American legal system has evolved over the years, and within it, asbestos litigation has evolved as well. The health risks associated with asbestos were known as early as the 1930s, but companies purposefully hid that knowledge from their employees. 

In a previous blog post, we examined important dates in American history concerning asbestos litigation. Here, we will go through some of the most infamous asbestos litigation history facts that you may not be aware of. Did you know:

  • Asbestos mines were used in ancient Greece, Finland, Sweden, and Cyprus as far back as 5000 BC.
  • Archeological digs uncovered asbestos use in Egypt and Scandinavia dating back to 3000 BC.
  • Asbestos was once used in burial shrouds for Egyptians in 2000 BC.
  • The name “asbestos” dates back to 50 AD, when Roman Scholar Pliny the Elder wrote about the mineral and noticed grueling illnesses among slaves who had woven the mineral into cloths.
  • Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne supposedly had a tablecloth made of asbestos that he purified by throwing into fire. He died in 814 from pleurisy (inflammation of a membrane that surrounds the lungs).
  • The first U.S. patent for asbestos was issued in 1828.
  • Use of asbestos really took off in the 1860s, when it was used as a raw material in manufacturing and construction industries.
  • A report was released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1918 that detailed early deaths among asbestos workers.
  • The first known death from asbestos occurred in 1924, when British woman Nellie Kershaw dies from asbestosis.
  • Johns-Manville, a major asbestos company, produced an internal report that detailed medical records of asbestos worker fatalities in 1930.
  • Asbestos was once used in safety clothing. Because it is fireproof, asbestos was woven into clothing to shield people working with or in flammable areas.
  • The first ill asbestos worker who filed an asbestos product liability in the United States actually lost the case. It happened in Beaumont, Texas in 1966.
  • Hundreds of thousands of U.S. military veterans have been exposed to toxic asbestos-containing materials.
  • By 1982, 1,000 asbestos claims had been filed with $1 billion spent by the defendants and insurers.
  • Twenty years later, in 2002, 730,000 asbestos claims had been filed with $70 billion spent by defendants and insurers.
  • While it is banned in Canada and the UK, asbestos is not banned in the United States.
Asbestos use in and of itself is not what led to the evolution of asbestos litigation in the United States. Rather, asbestos litigation transformed because companies knew the dangers of asbestos exposure, disregarded them, and failed to warn workers or provide them with protective gear. Although asbestos is not banned in the United States, regulations and increased awareness of the dangers of asbestos have led to positive changes in worker safety. 
 
Learn more about what you can do to avoid exposure to asbestos, along with other asbestos litigation information today.
Comments (0)

Past Asbestos Litigation: A Timeline

May 14, 2013
Asbestos litigation has not always been the way we know it today. Early asbestos cases only involved workers in occupations like pipe insulation, construction, and shipyard work. Gradually, these cases shifted to other occupations such as steam fitters and oil refinery workers, as additional negligent asbestos exposures were discovered. 
 
During this time, however, mesothelioma and asbestos cancer cases only made up a small portion of early asbestos claims. The majority included non-malignant cases that involved scarring of the internal lung tissue (asbestosis) and scarring of the lining of the chest cavity (pleural scarring). This beginning phase of asbestos litigation is just one part of a timeline of events that spans the past century. Certain moments in asbestos litigation history have influenced the mesothelioma lawsuit landscape by causing it to evolve into what we know today.

Important Dates in Asbestos Litigation History

1898 – The annual reports of the Chief Inspector of Factories in Britain mentions “easily demonstrated” health risks from asbestos. 
 
1899 – A factory worker dies from an industrial disease. London doctor H. Montague Murray conducts a post mortem exam and finds asbestos in the man’s lung tissue. 
 
1908 – The United States enacts the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) into federal law. The FELA was established to protect and compensate railroad workers injured by various circumstances (including asbestos exposure) while on the job. 
 
1924 – Nellie Kershaw, a 33-year-old female asbestos worker, dies from asbestosis and becomes the first case to be described in medical literature. 
 
1927 – The first known U.S. workers’ compensation claim for asbestos disease is created. 
 
1930 – The first asbestosis sufferer autopsy is conducted in the United States and later presented by a doctor at the Mayo Clinic. 
 
1930 – Also in this year, asbestos company Johns-Manville produces an internal report about medical reports of asbestos worker fatalities. 
 
1933 – Johns-Manville officials settle 11 lawsuits by employees suffering from asbestosis on a condition that they agree to never “directly or indirectly participate in the bringing of new actions against the Corporation.” 
 
1935 – Officials of Johns-Manville and Raybestos-Manhattan order the editor of Asbestos magazine to publish nothing about asbestosis. 
 
1936 – A group of companies agree to sponsor medical research on the health effects of asbestos dust, on the condition that the companies maintain control over the disclosure of those results. 
 
1943 – The U.S. Navy uses asbestos for the production of ships for World War II. A majority of current mesothelioma cases come from U.S. Navy veterans. 
 
1951 – Asbestos companies remove all references to cancer before research they sponsor can be published. 
 
1970 – The Clean Air Act is passed, allowing the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate asbestos. 
 
1973 – The first major asbestos lawsuit is won. An insulation worker wins a settlement from large asbestos manufacturers. 
 
1977 – Hidden documents containing details on the efforts of large companies to cover up the health hazards of asbestos (Sumner Simpson Papers) are used against defendant manufacturers in court. 
 
1981 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requests information from all American companies on any asbestos content in their products. 
 
1982 – Johns-Manville, the largest American manufacturer of asbestos products, files for bankruptcy after a major increase in asbestos lawsuits against them. 
 
1989 – The EPA issues the Asbestos Ban and Phase Out Rule, which bans many asbestos products. 
 
1991 – The aforementioned ban is overturned, allowing some asbestos products to continue to be produced and used in the United States. Products that remain banned are asbestos flooring, rollboard, and asbestos paper. 
 
1994 – Mesothelioma is officially recognized by the World Health Organization as an asbestos-related disease. 
 
2003 – The largest asbestos verdict for a single plaintiff is awarded for $250 million. The Simmons Firm plays a role in this influential win. 
 
2006 – The Owens Corning Fibreboard Asbestos Personal Injury Trust is established. 
 
2006 – The Armstrong World Industries Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust is established. 
 
2007 – The U.S. Senate passes the “Ban Asbestos in America Act”, which bans asbestos-containing products except materials containing less than one percent asbestos. The bill does not go to the House or become law. 
 
2008 – H.R. 6903, also known as the “Bruce Vento Ban Asbestos and Prevent Mesothelioma Act of 2008” is introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill was designed to amend the Toxic Substances Control act by reducing health risks associated with asbestos-containing products. Bruce Vento was a politician who died from mesothelioma in 2000. The bill did not go to House or Senate votes. 
 
2009 – The ASARCO LLC Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust is established. 2009 – Senate Resolution 57 designates the first week of April as National Asbestos Awareness Week. 
 
2010 – The state of Washington issues a ban for asbestos in automotive brakes, which goes into effect in 2014. 
 
2013 – The Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency (FACT) Act is introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill will delay and/or deny justice and compensation for individuals suffering from asbestos-related diseases. 
 
Asbestos litigation has evolved over the years, and it will continue to change in the future. Although much progress has been made within the mesothelioma litigation landscape, there is still advancement to be sought. With the introduction of bills like the FACT Act, justice for victims of mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases will continue to be threatened. To make your voice heard and help stop the FACT Act from passing, learn what you can do now.
Comments (0)

Bridgeton Landfill: Rolling Stone Magazine Puts Spotlight on Underground Fire

May 13, 2013

The fugitive emissions and underground fire stemming from the Bridgeton Landfill in North St. Louis County has received national coverage from an article published  Friday in Rolling Stone Magazine. The article by Steven Hsieh is called “St. Louis is Burning.” The reporter provides an investigative look into the problems surrounding the landfill and considers the long terms implications of the toxic mess currently smoldering in St. Louis’ backyard.

“There's a fire burning in Bridgeton, Missouri. It's invisible to area residents, buried deep beneath the ground in a North St. Louis County landfill. But the smoldering waste is an unavoidable presence in town, giving off a putrid odor that clouds the air miles away – an overwhelming stench described by one area woman as "rotten eggs mixed with skunk and fertilizer." Residents report smelling it at K-12 school buses, a TGI Fridays and even the operating room of a local hospital. "It smells like dead bodies," observes another local….

Click here to read the full article on the Rolling Stone's website.

Comments (0)