Mesothelioma Illinois

The last I heard, the mesothelioma fund bill (S. 852) is on hold til the beginning of the year. And then we’ll have to see if all of the republicans are still on board. Some quotes to the press seem to show that they are beginning to realize how bad the bill would actually be for victims AND that there’s a good chance the fund would go bankrupt very quickly. We’ll see what happens when the Senate reconvenes in January.

Paul Kraus has survived 8 years with mesothelioma - which is many times the normal life expectancy. What’s even more surprising is that he had no normal cancer treatments…

Instead, Mr. Kraus made radical lifestyle changes, altering his diet, using intravenous and oral vitamins, herbs, amino acids and other immune boosting therapies and supplements, and tapping into the power of the mind-body connection.

According to recent research at NYU’s medical center, a protein in the blood called osteopontin may aid in early detection of mesothelioma…

In order to evaluate osteopontin as a potential marker for mesothelioma, researchers from several institutions conducted a clinical study to compare osteopontin levels in patients diagnosed with mesothelioma and patients with benign (non-cancerous) lung conditions. This study included 76 patients who had been diagnosed with mesothelioma, 69 individuals who had asbestos-related benign lung conditions and 45 healthy individuals who had not been exposed to asbestos. All individuals had their blood drawn and tested for osteopontin levels….Osteopontin levels were significantly higher in the group of patients diagnosed with mesothelioma compared to those individuals with asbestos-related lung complications

(article here)

Most people don’t detect mesothelioma until later stages - when it is too late for surgery. Better early detection techniques such as this would help immensely in treating people early on in the disease.

Stewart Beckworth, passed away at the age of 64. 18 months ago when he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, he quickly became the public face against the Australian asbestos company, James Hardie. Last year a report came out that put the company’s directors in a very bad light.

(more from theage.au here

The mesothelioma research community today expressed great disappointment in Senator Arlen Specter’s reluctance to provide additional funding for mesothelioma research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Only $2.8 million is currently spent by the National Institute of health on mesothelioma research - even though it claims 4,000 lives a year. The 2.8 million represents less than .1% of the NIH’s research budget.

Senator Specter Breaks Promise to Mesothelioma Patient and Research Community

The proposed Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act includes a large increase in funding for mesothelioma research. As currently written, it would allocate $29 million per year for ten years to mesothelioma rsearch. The funds would go to 10 separate research centers for research on the detection, prevention, treatment and cure of mesothelioma.

A widow recently spoke out after a settlement with Halliburton. Her husband died at the age of 54 from mesothelioma. The Halliburton payout was in the neighborhood of $30 million and included as many as 120 victims and their families.

He was a great dad, a good husband…I’d give every cent back if I could have him back - It’s been a real hard road…I’m angry they put a product out there that could cause cancer…You can’t put a cap on someone’s life

Factory workers in Great Britain recently won a test case involving a condition called “pleural plaques”. While not as deadly as mesothelioma, in case be a precursor. If the workers had lost the case, payments totally 25 million pounds would have stopped.

The insurance companies had tried to persuade the court they should not have to pay compensation to people with the condition. But those diagnosed with pleural plaques are at a far greater risk of contracting one of the many terminal illnesses associated with asbestos, such as mesothelioma, a terminal cancer of the lining of the lungs. They say the plaques cause acute anxiety, and feel they are living with a “timebomb”.

Workers win test case over asbestos cash

According to recently released numbers by the British Journal of Cancer, the number of mesothelioma cases will peak sometime about 10 years from now.

The study predicts the peak in mortality will come between 2011 and 2015, the highest number of deaths per year being between 1,950 and 2,450. After this peak, the mortality rate is expected to fall rapidly to a background level, depending on what residual exposure to asbestos, if any, still persists.

I wonder why the are predicting the “rapid fall”. There are so many factors involves in how long it takes for mesothelioma to actually show up, I don’t know how they could predict something like that.

More here