Asbestos News Roundup: 8.8.13 – WHO Study: 17 Years, 141,900 Deaths

August 8th, 2013. By LucyC

A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of reported asbestos hot spots in the US from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.

WHO Study Shows Millions of Potential Life-Years Lost to Asbestos Disease

A new analysis of data from the World Health Organization, shows that when the problem of mesothelioma and asbestosis, the two most prominent asbestos-related diseases, is analyzed in terms of life years lost, the burden is “substantial”.

Researchers in Japan and Indonesia found that a total of nearly 3 million potential life years have been sacrificed to these diseases by more than 141,000 people in dozens of countries. According to their WHO data analysis, 128,015 people died of mesothelioma in 82 countries between 1994 and 2010. During the same period, 13,885 people died of asbestosis in 55 countries.

Mesothelioma is a deadly malignancy that spreads across internal membranes, inhibiting organ function and often, eventually, invading the organs themselves. Asbestosis, also known as pulmonary fibrosis, is a chronic inflammation in the lungs that causes shortness of breath and chest pain and can be fatal. Both mesothelioma and asbestosis are triggered by prolonged or intense exposure to asbestos fibers and can develop decades after exposure.

According to the new study, which appears in the June 12, 2013 issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, people who died of mesothelioma lost a total of 2.81 million potential years of life. That equates to an average of 17 years lost for each mesothelioma patient. The 13,885 people who died of asbestosis lost an average of 13 years of life each, for a total of 180,000 years. The researchers call the Potential Years of Life Lost (PYLL) measurement a “well-established but rather under-utilized” tool for assessing global disease burden and conclude that “The future burden of asbestos-related diseases can be eliminated by stopping the use of asbestos.”

Asbestos has been linked to mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, emphysema, pleural plaques and autoimmune diseases for more than 50 years. Despite the mounting worldwide death toll, many countries continue to mine, import and use asbestos in a range of industrial applications. Asbestos was once prized as an insulator and building material because of its resistance to heat, fire and corrosion. A number of third-world countries still use asbestos because it is inexpensive.

Asbestos Lawsuits

Houston, TX: 34 defendants have been named in an asbestos lawsuit brought by a Houston man who claims the asbestos-related disease with which he was diagnosed was wrongfully caused.

Lonnie D. Martin claims he was exposed to large amounts of asbestos in products manufactured, sold, designed, supplied, distributed, mined, milled, relabeled, resold, processed, applied or installed by the defendant companies. According to the asbestos lawsuit complaint, it was his exposure to these products which led to his diagnosis of asbestos disease.

Specifically, Martin alleges that because he inhaled, ingested or otherwise absorbed asbestos fibers during the course of his work, he developed his disease. Martin claims that not only was he unaware of the hazards of asbestos exposure, but also that the named defendant companies failed to adequately warn him of the serious health hazards related to asbestos exposure, and that they failed to provide him with adequate and safe working apparel.

In addition, Martin’s complaint asserts that the defendants failed to provide him with a safe workplace, allowed a dangerous condition to exist, failed to warn of the hazardous condition and to warn him that asbestos particles could lead to disease and failed to market asbestos products that were safe to use.

The asbestos lawsuit also claims that the defendants negligently failed to test their products prior to their release to market; failed to place warning labels on the asbestos products; failed to warn on the proper way to handle asbestos products; failed to enforce a safety plan; and failed to follow government regulations.

Consequently, Martin experiences physical pain, suffering and mental anguish; lost wages; lost his earning capacity; has suffered disfigurement and physical impairment and incurred medical costs, all resulting from his asbestos disease.

Defending companies named in the complaint include American Standard, Aqua-Chem, Aurora Pump Company, A.W. Chesterton, Babacock Borsig Power, Baker Hughes, Bryan Steam Corporation, Buffalo Pumps, Certain-Teed Corporation, Crane, Dover Corporation, Dow Chemical Company, ExxonMobile Oil Corporation, Flowserve Corporation, FMC Corporation, Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation, General Electric Company, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Goulds Pumps, Guard-Line, Ingersoll-Rand, Lawrence Pumps, Leslie Controls, Lucey Boiler Company, Peerless Pump Company, Sihi Pumps, Spx Corporation, Sta-Rite Industries, Sulzer Pumps, Union Carbide Corporation, Viacom, Viking Pump, Weir Minerals North America, Yarway Corporation and Zurn Industries. (setexasrecord.com)

St. Clair County, IL: A Missouri couple has filed an asbestos complaint alleging 59 defendant companies, through their negligence, have caused Janis M. Whiting to develop mesothelioma

Janis Whiting and James B. Whiting allege that Janis was exposed to asbestos-containing products throughout her career as an operating technician in the US Force from 1967 until 1968, at University of Missouri Hospital from 1968 until 1979, at Community Hospital and Pinellas County Hospital from 1970 until the mid-1970s and at Community Hospital of New York from the mid-1970s until 1979. She also worked as a photographer at PCA from 1979 until 1985, as a hair dresser in 1982, as an operating technician at Moberly Regional Hospital from the mid-1980s through 1987, as a truck driver at Watkins Motor Line from 1987 until 2010, as a laborer at Moberly Surgical Center in 2011 and as a truck driver at R&R Trucking from 2012 until 2013.

The Whitings claim that the defendants should have known of the harmful effects of asbestos, but failed to exercise reasonable care and caution for the plaintiff’s safety.

According to their lawsuit, it is as a result of her asbestos-related diseases that Janis M. Whiting is now disabled and disfigured, has incurred medical costs and suffered great physical pain and mental anguish and is prevented from pursuing her normal course of employment. This has resulted in her having lost large sums of money that would have accrued to her.

In their 10-count complaint, the Whitings are seeking a judgment of more than $50,000, economic damages of more than $200,000, punitive and exemplary damages of more than $100,000, compensatory damages of more than $150,000, punitive damages in an amount sufficient to punish the defendants, plus costs and other relief the court deems just. (madisonrecord.com)

St. Clair County, IL: Edmund Borgman, a former railroad worker with Union Pacific Railroad Company, has filed an asbestos lawsuit naming the railway as a defendant, and alleging it is through the company’s negligence that he has developed his lung cancer.

Specifically, Borgman alleges he was exposed to various toxic substances, including asbestos, throughout his career from 1959 until 1968 in the clerical department at Union Pacific. In turn, he developed lung cancer.

Due to his disease, Borgman has suffered great pain and disability, endured mental anguish and extreme nervousness and experienced disability, the complaint states.

Borgman claims Union Pacific negligently failed to provide him with a safe place to work, failed to provide him with safe equipment, exposed him to various toxic substances, failed to warn him of the dangers of the substances and allowed unsafe work practices to become common. (madisonrecord.com)

 

Tags: Asbestos, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Mesothelioma

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