Asbestos News Roundup: 9.18.14 – Fire Fighters and Asbestos Disease

September 18th, 2014. 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.

Fire Fighters and Asbestos Disease

According to a study done by The National Fire Administration/NIOSH, published in the October 2013 issue of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the rate of mesothelioma among firefighters studied was twice that of the general US population.

The study is one the largest of its kind done to date, and looked at mortality patterns and cancer incidence among career firefighters. The researchers evaluated a pool of approximately 30,000 firefighters employed in San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia between 1950 and 2009.

They found, as have previous studies, that firefighters, through the course of their work, are exposed to known and suspected carcinogens like formaldehyde and benzene. The study shows that such exposure is linked to an increased risk of developing certain cancers. Additionally, the results were consistent with previous studies which show that firefighters experience higher rates of respiratory, digestive and urinary cancers, compared to the general population.

What was new, however, was the nearly doubling of the incidence rate for asbestos mesothelioma among firefighters, compared with the general US population. This had not been previously reported. The study not only strengthens previous evidence for the health risks firefighters are exposed to, but also suggests an association between firefighters’ occupational exposure to asbestos and increased mesothelioma rates, as asbestos is “the only known causal agent of mesothelioma.”

Asbestos Lawsuits

Moundsville, WV:  Deborah Morgan has filed an asbestos lawsuit naming 72 companies she claims are responsible for her late husband’s lung cancer and death. She claims her husband’s condition was a direct and proximate result of the negligence of the defendants.

Ronald Morgan was diagnosed with lung cancer on May 2, 2013, and died September 22, according to the lawsuit. Deborah Morgan alleges the defendants that are premise owners had a duty to provide Ronald Morgan with a reasonably safe place to work and a duty to exercise reasonable care in protecting him from work place hazards.

Further, Mrs. Morgan alleges the defendants failed to warn her husband of the dangers of its products when they knew or should have down that expose to asbestos-containing products and other ingredients of the products would cause disease and injury, and that they failed to exercise reasonable care to warn Ronald Morgan of the dangers to which he was exposed by use of the asbestos-containing products and other ingredients in the defendants’ product.

Mrs. Morgan also claims the defendants failed to inform her late husband about safe and sufficient apparel for a person who was exposed to or used the product or products and that the defendants failed to place any warnings on the asbestos-containing products and failed to warn of the dangers of the ingredients of the products.

The 72 defendants in the suit include: A.W. Chesteron Company; Air & Liquid Systems Corporation; Allied Glove Corporation; Ametek Inc.; American Gage & Machine Company Inc.; American Optical Corporation; Atlas Industries Inc.; Aurora Pump Company; Bayer Cropscience Inc.; and Beazer East Inc. (wvrecord.com)

Moundsville, WV: 109 companies have been named as defendants by a couple seeking damages in an asbestos lawsuit.  The plaintiffs claim the companies say are responsible for the mesothelioma diagnosis pertaining to Thomas Ray Allen. Allen was diagnosed with mesothelioma on April 30, according to the lawsuit.

Allen and his wife, Phyllis Allen, claim defendants exposed Thomas Allen to asbestos during his employment in New Martinsville. Specifically, the Allens claim that Thomas Allen was exposed to asbestos and/or other harmful minerals manufactured, supplied, sold, distributed, installed, used, specified, removed and/or required by the defendants.

Further, the Allens contend that the defendants failed to warn them of the dangers of the asbestos-containing products and failed to take reasonable precautions to warn them of the dangers.

The defendants also failed to exercise reasonable care to warn them of the dangers and failed to inform them of what would be safe and sufficient apparel for a person who was exposed to or used the product or products, according to the complaint.

The 109 defendants include Bayer Corporation; Air & Liquid Systems Corporation; Ajax Management Corporation; Alliance Machine Company; Allied Glove Corporation; American Gage & Machine Company; American Optical Corporation; Ametek Inc.; Armstrong International Inc.; and Armstrong Pumps Inc. (wvrecord.com)

Asbestos Settlements  

Salinas, CA: The Windsor Gardens, a 99 bed for-profit nursing home in California, has agreed to a $225,000 settlement to settle allegations it failed to properly handle the removal of asbestos during a renovation.

The nursing home, in Salinas CA, and its general contractor relied on an incomplete “operations and maintenance” report rather than a full survey when doing a renovation in 2012, according to the lawsuit. As a result, they did not know that wallboard in patient rooms contained asbestos, and the harmful substance, which can cause lung cancer, was emitted during work, local CBS affiliate KION reported this week.

Windsor Gardens and its operator, S&F Management Company, entered into the settlement with the Monterey County District Attorney’s Environmental Protection Unit. The general contractor, The Stahl Companies, will also pay $70,435 in a civil settlement. (mcknights.com)

Tags: Asbestos, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Mesothelioma, asbestos risk, Asbestos Settlement

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