September 24, 2008
October 30, 2008 has been set by the federal bankruptcy court for United States property owners to file claims related to Zonolite attic insulation, Grace’s asbestos-based insulation. It’s a loose-fill insulation sold in the United States for about 60 years ending in 1984. It’s been used in millions of homes and businesses but could be a health risk because of the large amounts of asbestos fibers it releases. Removal of this contamination could cost home owners up to $40,000 so submitting a claim through the bankruptcy proceedings could help owners recoup some of that cost.
As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, the court has established October 31, 2008 as the bar date for filing Zonolite Attic Insulation claims relating to diminution of property value, cost of abatement or removal and other economic losses associated with the product. If a proof of claim is not filed before this date at www.GraceClaims.com, property owners may lose their right to assert such damages in the future.
In a separate agreement worth between 1.8 billion and 3 billion dollars, Grace agreed to put the money, over the next 25 years, into a trust established to resolve lawsuits for individuals who have suffered with diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma from use of their products.
Mesothelioma is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos either directly or indirectly through family members who worked with the material. A mesothelioma cancer diagnosis can be made years after a family member carried home asbestos dust or fibers on their clothing, shoes, skin or in their hair. Usually by the time mesothelioma is diagnosed, the patient has only a short time to live, 12 to 18 months average. Because it takes so long after exposure to be diagnosed, many mesothelioma attorneys expect that mesothelioma lawsuits will continue for many years to come.
Another agreement approved in June requires Grace to pay another 250 million dollars to settle lawsuits brought to clean up Libby, Montana where asbestos was mined by Grace. At the peak of production, the mine produced 500,000 pounds of asbestos a day through the mill and released as much as 24,000 pounds a day of dust from the mill stack. When the wind blew the right way the town could be covered in a layer of dust with children drawing in the layer of dust on cars and clothes on the line covered as well. About 1900 men worked at the mine and x-rays of those who had been there 21 plus years showed that 92% of them had signs of lung disease.
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Asbestos, Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma, lawsuits | Tagged: Asbestos, Asbestosis, Libby Montana, Lung Cancer, meso, Mesothelioma, Mesothelioma Lawyer, WR Grace, Zonolite | 
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Posted by Dave Austin
September 19, 2008
A recent decision by the Tennessee Supreme Court has allowed a second hand asbestos exposure case to go on to trial. The court ruled that the company, Alcoa, had a duty of care that extended to family members.
The lawsuit was filed in 2003 against Alcoa but a trial judge dismissed it arguing Alcoa’s liability did not extend to family members. The supreme court’s decision reverses that earlier decision and allows the lawsuit to go to trial. Doug Satterfield filed the suit after his daughter was diagnosed with mesothelioma and died from it. He had worked for Alcoa where he was routinely exposed to asbestos and carried the fibers home on his work clothes.
Now the case will go back to the lower court where the process will begin to set a trial date and begin depositions.
Leave a Comment » | Asbestos, Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma, lawsuits | Tagged: "mesothelioma cancer", Alcoa, Mesothelioma, mesothelioma lawsuit, second hand exposure to asbestos, Tennessee Supreme Court | Permalink
Posted by Dave Austin
September 10, 2008
Heather Von St. James has been free of mesothelioma for two and a half years since her radical treatment at a Boston Hospital. Von James believes that her mesothelioma was caused by her being exposed to her father’s work clothes when he worked at Ainsworth-Benning as a construction laborer. Many of the products he worked with contained asbestos. She would often get into his boots and coat to go outside and feed the rabbits.
Von James learned she was pregnant in 2004. She didn’t gain much weight, was short of breath and felt pressure under the left breast but figured this was part of being pregnant. After her daughter was born in 2005, she went back to work part-time but was exhausted. She attributed her exhaustion to being a new mother combined with going back to work. When she returned to full-time work, the pain in her chest was “like a truck was parked on my chest.” Her doctor ordered x-rays and blood work that showed fluid around her left lung.
She was sent to United Hospital in St. Paul where the fluid was drained and a CT scan was done. They found a mass the size of an orange so she had a needle biopsy done and, on November 21, 2005, she was told she had mesothelioma. Her options were 1) to do nothing and live for perhaps 15 months; 2) try radiation and chemotherapy or 3) go to Boston to see Dr. Sugarbaker at Brighams and Women’s Hospital.
She went to Boston and had radical surgery on February 2, 2006. The surgery removed her left lung, several lymph nodes, a rib, half her diaphragm and some of her heart lining. When she returned home in May she started chemotherapy every 3 weeks for 12 weeks. It’s been 2 years since she ended treatment except for periodic scans. So far she has been mesothelioma free.
Dr. David Sugarbaker, who heads the International Mesothelioma Program at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, said Von St. James is a shining example of the progress he is beginning to see in the fight against a disease that traditionally carried a maximum survival of 12 to 18 months.
Von St. James claims she is cured and that she is a poster child that says there is hope even after such a diagnosis. Dr. Sugarbaker only will say that “right now in this present moment she is disease-free.”
Von St. James has filed a lawsuit against Ainsworth-Benning and others and is waiting for the court to set a trial date.
Leave a Comment » | Asbestos, Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma, Treatment, lawsuits | Tagged: Brigham and Womens Hospital, International Mesothelioma Program, Mesothelioma, mesothelioma lawsuit, mesothelioma treatment, United Hospital | Permalink
Posted by Dave Austin
