Asbestos News Roundup: 11.22.12 – Oil Workers & Asbestos

November 22nd, 2012. By LucyC

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This week’s asbestos news roundup includes all the 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.

Oil Industry Workers at High Risk for Asbestos Disease from Asbestos Drilling Mud

Drilling mud is widely used in the oil industry, both onshore and offshore, to help cool the drill bit and flush debris from the well hole during drilling. Many oilfield workers may have been exposed to toxic asbestos products without knowing its harmful, and often lethal, effects.

Drilling mud composition contained asbestos, which led to mud engineers being exposed to asbestos drilling mud, and the potential to develop asbestos-related disease such as asbestos mesothelioma. The two drilling mud brands that were mainly used were Flosal and Visbestos: both products were packaged in 50 lb. bags and were used for sweeping the hole as a viscosifier.

Asbestos Lawsuits

St. Clair County, IL: Earl Marshall and his wife Bertha have filed an asbestos lawsuit naming 64 defendant corporations, which, they allege, are responsible for Earl’s diagnosis of lung cancer.

In their lawsuit, the Marshalls allege the defendant companies caused Earl Marshall to develop lung cancer after his exposure to asbestos-containing products throughout his career as a plumber at Hawthorne Racetrack in Cicero, Illinois, from 1963 until 1977; as a cook at Peter Pan Restaurant in Chicago, Illinois, from 1977 until 1978; and as a self-employed construction/demolition worker from 1978 until 1989.

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

Earl Marshall has become disabled and disfigured, incurred medical costs and suffered great physical pain and mental anguish, as a result of his asbestos-related illness, the lawsuit states. In addition, he is no longer able to work and, consequently, lost large sums of money that would have accrued to him, he claims.

In his six-count complaint, Earl Marshall is seeking a judgment of more than $100,000, compensatory damages of more than $100,000, punitive and exemplary damages of more than $100,000 and punitive damages in an amount sufficient to prevent the defendants from performing similar conduct in the future, plus other relief the court deems just. (madisonrecord.com)

St. Clair County, IL: Gerald Campbell, who was recently diagnosed with asbestos-related lung cancer, has filed an asbestos lawsuit seeking damages from 54 defendant corporations.

Campbell alleges the defendant companies caused him to develop lung cancer after his exposure to asbestos-containing products throughout the course of his work as a laborer at St. Regis Paper Mill from 1956 until 1957 and as a rigger at Monsanto from 1957 until 1993.

Campbell further claims the defendants should have known of the harmful effects of asbestos, but failed to exercise reasonable care and caution for the plaintiff’s safety. Consequently, Campbell is disabled and disfigured, has incurred medical costs and suffered great physical pain and mental anguish, all caused by his asbestos disease. Further, he claims he became prevented from pursuing his normal course of employment and, as a result, lost large sums of money that would have accrued to him.

In his five-count complaint, Campbell is seeking a judgment of more than $50,000, compensatory damages of more than $100,000, punitive and exemplary damages of more than $100,000, economic damages of more than $150,000 and punitive damages in an amount sufficient to prevent the defendants from performing similar conduct in the future, plus other relief the court deems just. (madisonrecord.com)

Beaumont, TX: Goodrich Corporation and Michelin North America have been named as defendants in an asbestos lawsuit filed by the widow of Herbert Carmon. According to the asbestos lawsuit, Herbert Carmon was employed by B.F. Goodrich in Jefferson County, where he was exposed to asbestos dust and fibers.

The lawsuit states that as a result of such exposure, Herbert Carmon developed an asbestos related disease, pleural disease and mesothelioma/lung cancer, from which he died a painful and terrible death on July 24, 2011.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of negligently failing to warn employees of the dangerous of asbestos.(setexasrecord.com)

Asbestos Law

Boston, MA: A Massachusetts man is being sued by state Attorney General Martha Coakley for improperly removing asbestos materials from three homes he was renovating, violating the Massachusetts Clean Air Act in the process .

On three separate occasions between September 2009 and April 2011, Ronald Oliviera arranged for the renovation of three different multi-family homes in New Bedford, two of which he currently owns and rents out to tenants. During the renovation projects, contractors hired by Oliveira allegedly caused asbestos fibers from asbestos shingles to be released into the air.

At another renovation site, Oliveira allegedly told contractors to cover the asbestos shingles with new vinyl siding and drill through shingles to install heating vents, which also released asbestos fibers into the air as a result.

For renovations at the third renovation, contractors recklessly tossed asbestos shingles to the ground from the third floor of the building while installing vinyl siding and stripping wooden molding from the exterior.

“Asbestos removal must be done properly in order to prevent exposure to asbestos fibers, which can create serious health risks,” Coakley said.

“The scattering of asbestos debris in a residential neighborhood presents an unacceptable public health hazard to residents and workers,” added Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Kenneth Kimmell. “Contractors who do not remove and dispose of asbestos properly will face enforcement and significant penalties.”

The asbestos lawsuit seeks civil penalties up to $25,000 per day for each violation of the Massachusetts Clean Air Act. (cisionwire.com)

Mayo Clinic Phasing out Ambien after Slip and Fall Study

November 20th, 2012. By AbiK

The Mayo Clinic has decided to phase out use of Ambien, the prescription sleeping pill, over concerns that patients on the drug have a higher rate fall rate than those who are not on it.

In a study conducted by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN and published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine (11/19/12), researchers reviewed fall data from more than 16,000 patients who were hospitalized. The study found that patients who were given Ambien while hospitalized experienced falls more than four times greater than those who were not given Ambien. According to the study, the fall rate for patients given Ambien was just over 3 percent compared to a fall rate of 0.7 percent for patients not given Ambien.

What’s interesting about the Mayo Clinic Ambien study as well is that the fall rate associated with the drug was greater than that associated with factors such as age, mental impairment, insomnia or delirium. And, that held true no matter what the Ambien dosage was.

According to a report at HealthDay News, the Mayo Clinic’s chief patient safety officer, Dr. Timothy Morgenthaler stated via news release, “As a result of our study, we are now phasing out [Ambien] and moving toward sleep enhancement techniques that are not based on drugs and which we believe are safer and probably as effective.”

While the Mayo Clinic is clearly backing off of Ambien as a sleep aid for in-patient care, the study did not find a cause and effect relationship between taking Ambien and falling; however, the association found between the two in the study was enough for the Mayo Clinic to begin to phase the drug out of use.

Michael Jackson Class Action Seeks $$ – What Else?

November 19th, 2012. By AbiK

Michael Jackson might be dead but he will not die. At least when it comes to lawsuit filings.

The latest in the Michael Jackson post-death legal saga is a class action lawsuit filed by his former assistant, Michael Amir Williams. Williams claims that he was hired to attend to MJ during the “This Is It” tour—the one that the gloved one was gearing up for just before his untimely death—and that he and others who were hired to do the same were deprived of $ 7.5 million in pay.

The Michael-Jackson-owes-me lawsuit was filed against concert promoter AEG Live in Los Angeles last week. But there’s a twist to this one.

According to a Reuters report, Williams is targeting AEG Live because the promoter also hired Dr. Conrad Murray. Dr Murray, if you recall, was the man convicted of involuntary manslaughter for supplying and administering propofol to Jackson, ultimately leading to his death.

So Williams and other ‘This Is It’ crew member who’d make up the would-be class are employing some kind of transitivity theory here: AEG Live hired Murray; Murray was convicted in Jackson’s death leading to the “This Is It” tour to be cancelled and Williams et al not getting paid; therefore, AEG Live should be on the hook for Williams et al not getting paid.

Needless to say, the folks at AEG aren’t buying it. Reuters quotes AEG lawyer, Marvin Putnam (O’Melveny & Myers) as calling the class action lawsuit “frivolous”. He goes on to say that “This lawsuit is clearly frivolous; it is literally barred by at least four different legal doctrines. The easiest is that Mr. Williams was a personal employee of Michael Jackson’s, and was never a beneficiary of Mr. Jackson’s contract with AEG Live. As such he has no legal standing to sue on that contract.”

Williams is suing for breach of express terms of contract, breach of implied terms of contract, and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. As far as what he’s seeking for the class, it’s the usual “unspecified damages”–plus court and attorneys’ fees.

And if you’re thinking Michael Jackson is the only dead celebrity who lives on in our court system, he’s got company—Anna Nicole Smith is still visiting the bar as well.

Asbestos News Roundup: 11.15.12 – Asbestos & City Construction

November 15th, 2012. By LucyC

The weekly 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.

Asbestos Exposure & City Construction Workers

The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), an awareness organization founded by asbestos victims and their families in 2004, released a statement this week confirming that workers in Houston, Texas were exposed to asbestos while repairing one of the city’s water mains in 2011.

The statement notes that the Scientific Analytical Institute (SAI) determined that the pipe was composed of 35 percent asbestos (25 percent chrysotile asbestos and 10 percent crocidolite asbestos). According to the workers, they were not informed that the pipe contained asbestos nor given personal protective equipment appropriate for handling asbestos. The workers told ADAO that they were instructed to cut the pipe using a power saw and sledge hammer, which released asbestos into the environment.

Beginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1980s, cities throughout the U.S. installed millions of miles of asbestos-cement pipes. As these pipes wear over time, they rupture and require repair.

“Cities must ensure that asbestos-cement pipe is handled with utmost caution,” said Dr. Celeste Monforton, senior research associate at George Washington University’s School of Public Health and Health Services. “The serious health harm caused by asbestos exposure is well-known. I was appalled to hear how this known carcinogen was handled in such a frivolous manner in the City of Houston.”

ADAO is urging the City of Houston to (1) identify and make public the location of all water mains containing asbestos-cement pipe; (2) adopt OSHA’s standards of practice for handling asbestos and ensure that all city-contracted projects comply with them; and (3) identify and notify all workers engaged in water main repairs of their potential exposure to asbestos and implement a program to provide long-term medical screening and care for all of them.

Asbestos Lawsuits

St. Clair County, IL: Earl Marshal and his wife Bertha have filed an asbestos lawsuit against 64 defendant corporations, which, they allege are responsible for Earl Marshall’s diagnosis of lung cancer.

In their lawsuit, the Marshalls claim the defendant companies exposed him to asbestos-containing products throughout his career. Earl Marshall worked as a plumber at Hawthorne Racetrack in Cicero, Illinois, from 1963 until 1977; as a cook at Peter Pan Restaurant in Chicago, Illinois, from 1977 until 1978; and as a self-employed construction/demolition worker from 1978 until 1989.

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

As a result of his asbestos-related disease, Earl Marshall became disabled and disfigured, incurred medical costs and suffered great physical pain and mental anguish, the complaint says. In addition, he became prevented from pursuing his normal course of employment and, as a result, lost large sums of money that would have accrued to him, he claims.

In his six-count complaint, Earl Marshall is seeking a judgment of more than $100,000, compensatory damages of more than $100,000, punitive and exemplary damages of more than $100,000 and punitive damages in an amount sufficient to prevent the defendants from performing similar conduct in the future, plus other relief the court deems just. (madisonrecord.com)

St. Clair County, IL: Gerald Campbell, recently diagnosed with asbestos-related lung cancer, has filed an asbestos lawsuit seeking damages from 54 defendant corporations.

In his lawsuit, Campbell alleges the defendant companies caused him to develop lung cancer after his exposure to asbestos-containing products throughout his career as a laborer at St. Regis Paper Mill from 1956 until 1957 and as a rigger at Monsanto from 1957 until 1993.

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

As a result of his asbestos-related disease, Campbell became disabled and disfigured, incurred medical costs and suffered great physical pain and mental anguish, the complaint says. In addition, he became prevented from pursuing his normal course of employment and, as a result, lost large sums of money that would have accrued to him, he claims.

In his five-count complaint, Campbell is seeking a judgment of more than $50,000, compensatory damages of more than $100,000, punitive and exemplary damages of more than $100,000, economic damages of more than $150,000 and punitive damages in an amount sufficient to prevent the defendants from performing similar conduct in the future, plus other relief the court deems just. (madisonrecord.com)

Judge: Dimwit Driver to wear Idiot Sign for Stupid Traffic Move

November 9th, 2012. By AbiK

We’ve seen a lot of stupidity on the pages of our Totally Tortelicious posts–but we continue to be amazed at the extent some folks will go to in an attempt to beat the system somehow.

Take Shena Hardin.

Ms. Hardin apparently doesn’t like waiting those few precious minutes we all have to wait when a school bus comes to a stop, puts on those flashing red lights and shoves that little stop sign out. Most of us just stop (hello, child safety)—but Shena? No, that little stop sign might just as well have been the street version of a toreador’s handkerchief. Only she wasn’t about to charge the thing, she had a better plan!

Ms. Hardin thought she’d found a way to deal with her daily annoyance of getting stuck behind that damn school bus. She decided she’d go around the bus—but not on the street as, well, that might get her a ticket of course. Hell no—she took the sidewalk instead!

That’s right—she took the sidewalk. In her car. Drove right down the middle of it. (See the video above).  And according to WPTV News Channel 5, she did this daily—so it wasn’t just some “I’ll duck down, hit the gas, go around the bus and hope nobody sees me—just this once” kind of thing. No—this was her longer-term solution to waiting for that damn bus to get moving.

It gets better.

Ms. Hardin forgot that we live in an age of smart phones—you know how they have those handy built-in cameras and all. So the Cleveland Metropolitan School District bus driver, Uriah Herron, decided to take a little video of Shena’s slick move.

Seriously—look at the video above. That’s Shena there—cruising right around the school bus on the sidewalk on E. 38th Street between Superior and Payne Avenues in Cleveland. Just listen to the kids on the bus—the laughs, the OMGs and WTFs.