Sewell Jones, spent his final days at the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted.

On February 2007, Sewell Jones died of mesothelioma.

His daughter Wendy Jones is looking for other workers from ” the pulp house” where Jones was exposed to asbestos.

If you worked at “the pulp house,” (Nash Mills Paper Factory of Belswain Lane in Kings Langley)please come forward and contact 0844 854 3096 or email susan.dawson@fentons.co.uk

Maine now has the highest death rate from mesothelioma in United States according to the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH).

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) agency NIOSH indicates twenty seven asbestos-related deaths per million. As that turns out to be about 80 deaths a year, it may indicate a risk factor especially for high risk groups.

The Damages (Asbestos-Related Conditions) Bill passed its second stage and is close to becoming British law. Westminster unanimously passed the bill to restore pleural plaques compensation. Pleural plaques is asbestos-caused lung scarring which affects thousands in the UK.

Many victims were knowingly exposed by employers who knew the dangers.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV

WWW.USDOJ.GOV

W.R. Grace to Pay for Cleanup of Asbestos Contamination in Libby, Montana

WASHINGTON—W.R. Grace, a global supplier of specialty chemicals, has agreed to pay $250 million, the highest sum in the history of the Superfund program, to
reimburse the federal government for the costs of the investigation and cleanup of asbestos contamination in Libby, Mont., the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today.

The action settles a bankruptcy claim brought by the federal government to recover money for past and future costs of cleanup of contaminated schools, homes and businesses in Libby.

The EPA has been removing asbestos-contaminated soils and other materials in and near Libby since May 2000. The federal government filed suit against W.R.
Grace in March 2001 to recover its investigation and cleanup costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA),
commonly known as the “Superfund” law. The lawsuit also named Kootenai Development Corporation—a W.R. Grace subsidiary—as a defendant due to its ownership of three contaminated properties in Libby.

In 2003, the federal district court in Montana awarded EPA over $54 million for cleanup costs incurred by EPA through Dec. 31, 2001. That award has not been paid due to W.R. Grace’s bankruptcy. Today’s settlement resolves the 2003 judgment as well as continuing cleanup costs EPA has incurred since Dec. 31, 2001 and will incur in the future. EPA will place the settlement proceeds into a special account within the Superfund that will be used to finance future cleanup work at the site.

W.R. Grace owned and operated a vermiculite mine and vermiculite processing facilities in and near Libby from 1963 to 1990. The vermiculite ore was
contaminated with asbestos. Vermiculite and asbestos have been found in various locations in and around Libby.

Asbestos, a recognized human carcinogen, is known to cause lung cancer and mesothelioma, a lethal tumor of the lining of the chest and abdominal cavities.
Exposure to asbestos can also cause asbestosis, a disease characterized by scarring of the lung.

W.R. Grace and 61 affiliated companies filed for bankruptcy in April 2001. In March 2003, EPA filed a bankruptcy claim against the company to recover past and future cleanup costs. W.R. Grace has corporate headquarters in Columbia, Md., and employees in nearly 40 countries. The company manufactures construction
chemicals, building materials and chemical additives, among other things.

The settlement requires W.R. Grace to pay the $250 million within 30 days of bankruptcy court approval. The settlement agreement will be lodged in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and is subject to court approval after a 30-day public comment period. A copy of the settlement agreement is available on the Justice Department Web site at
http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

TEXAS– March 11, 2009 A Texas state court loophole
Policyholders facing liability on different types of asbestos claims now have to deal with the latest ruling that “asbestosis” exclusion bars coverage only for asbestosis claims and does not bar coverage for claims involving mesothelioma, lung cancer, pleural plaques or any other asbestos-related disease.”

David J. Sugarbaker, M.D.
Chief, Division of Thoracic Surgery

Medical Degree:

Cornell University Medical College 1979
Residencies:

Peter Bent Brigham Hospital-Intern in Surgery 1979-1980
Peter Bent Brigham Hospital-Junior Resident in Surgery 1980-1982
Brigham and Women’s Hospital-Senor Resident in Surgery 1984-1985
Toronto General Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital, & Hospital For Sick Children, U. of Toronto-Chief Resident in Thoracic Surgery 1986-1987
Toronto General Hospital-Chief Resident in Cardiac Surgery 1987-1988
Hospital For Sick Children, U. of Toronto-Resident in Surgery 1987-1988
Fellowships:

Research Fellow in Gastroenterology, The Charles A. Dana Research Institute and the Harvard Thorndyke Laboratory, Beth Israel Hospital & Harvard Medical School – 1982-1984
Arthur Tracey Cabot Fellow in Surgery, Assistant to the Chief of Surgery, Chief Resident Surgeon, Brigham and Women’s Hospital – 1985-1986
Board Certifications:

Surgery 1987
Thoracic Surgery 1989
Academic Appointments:

Assistant Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School – 1988-1993
Associate Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School – 1993-1999
Richard E. Wilson Professor of Surgical Oncology, Harvard Medical School – 1999-
Biography

Dr. Sugarbaker is board certified in Thoracic Surgery and Surgery. He attended Wheaton College and Cornell University Medical School. He completed his Surgery residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Cardiothoracic training at the Toronto General Hospital as Chief Resident in Thoracic Surgery and Chief Resident in Cardiac Surgery. His specific interests are in general thoracic surgery, minimally invasive surgery, lung volume reduction surgery, esophageal cancer, mesothelioma, non-small cell lung cancer, and video-assisted thoracic surgery(VATS).

Dr. Sugarbaker has been actively involved in the development of several programs. These include The Division of Thoracic Surgery 1988-present, the Brigham Lung Transplant Program, The Thoracic Oncology Program at the DFCI/BWH 1995-present, Surgical Services at the DFCI 1996-present, the Lung Volume Reduction Program at BWH 1996-present. In addition he has been active in the development of new minimally invasive surgical procedures and actively involved in the areas of therapy of thoracic malignancy.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma has been a central focus of Dr. Sugarbaker’s clinical and laboratory research. A trimodality therapeutic approach based on extrapleural pneumonectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation was developed and examined in a consecutive series of patients. Analysis of this series has revealed improved overall survival with acceptable morbidity and operative mortality, and has elucidated new prognostic variables in this disease. These include cell type, nodal status and resectablity, which have formed the foundation of a new staging system currently in use, which was presented to the American Surgical Association in 1996.

Laboratory investigation in mesothelioma has entailed the banking of frozen samples of more than 100 mesotheliomas that are currently the focus of research examining molecular markers in this disease. One important project seeks a definitive answer as to the potential role of Simian Virus 40 exposure (e.g. via contaminated polio vaccine) in mesothelioma through collaborative involvement with the NIH SV-40 working group.

As Chair of the Surgery Committee of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB), it has been possible for Dr. Sugarbaker to play a leadership role in developing the clinical investigation of the role of surgery in cancer therapy trials, with the support of NCI U10 funding. This effort has supported the clinical investigation of new therapies in thoracic, GI and breast malignancies. These prospective clinical investigations have led to further NCI U10 support to examine the efficacy of new innovative minimally invasive thoracic surgery techniques in the staging and treatment of thoracic malignancy.

Concurrent laboratory work has focused on prognostic factors in stage I non-small cell lung cancer. Although surgery alone is standard therapy in this group of patients, 30-40% of them will succumb to recurrent disease. Identification of molecular and pathologic prognostic markers indicating metastatic potential in resected stage I tumors will facilitate selection of patients for adjuvant therapy. The evaluation of markers in our laboratory has led to the publication of a molecular substaging system for stage I non-small cell lung cancer. The prognostic significance of markers currently under study utilizes specimens from our respiratory tissue bank.

The establishment of the respiratory tissue bank in 1991 has led to the development of new methodologies for tissue processing and storage. This activity has led to extremely fruitful collaborative research projects. Prominent among these is “A gene expression approach to Adenocarcinoma classification”, a funded response to the NCI Director’s Challenge involving investigators at the Whitehead Institute, DFCI, MGH and BWH. Others have focused on the role of cell cycle regulatory pathways (Rb, cyclin D1, p16), matrix metalloproteinases (stromelysin-3), adhesion/motility proteins (paxillin, gelsolin), retinoid receptors and macrophage stimulating protein in the pathogenesis and metastasis of lung cancer. The bank has also supported large-scale gene discovery and expression profiling work in malignant pleural mesothelioma. “Evaluation of assays for detection of Simian Virus 40 DNA in Mesotheliomas”, a multicenter study by the International SV40 Working Group organized by the Viral Epidemiology Branch of the NCI, utilized specimens from the bank in a careful investigation of this sensitive public health issue.

Recently, the scope of the bank has been expanded. The BWH Tissue and Blood Repository now serves a broader role as an institutional core facility for specimen procurement and distribution in a wide array of malignancies as well as benign and neo-plastic tissues, blood, cells and nucleic acids. Dr. Sugarbaker serves as co-director and operations chair.

Dr Sugarbaker is Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Richard E. Wilson Professor of Surgical Oncology at Harvard Medical School.

Source: http://www.chestsurg.org/about/staff/

Sugarbaker Oncology Associates
Specialty Section for the Treatment of Peritoneal Mesothelioma

A recent news article pointed out how there’s a $176 million settlement in litigation for 300 survivors and relatives of those killed in a RI nightclub fire. Six years they’ve been waiting–as medical bills mount.

Sick workers employed by W.R. Grace & Co have been around since the mid 1990’s that peaked after 1999 news reported links between the vermiculite mine and the hundreds of sick and dying people exposed to asbestos. Plus over 800 Libby residents have filed wrongful death and personal injury cases against Grace.

Asbestos claims mount. Meanwhile, they’re still trying to figure out the extent of damage of low level exposure.

For thirty years, Newinski worked as a machinist for Northern States Power Co. In 2008, he won a $4.6 million judgment in an asbestos case againstJohn Crane Inc., which made products that Newinski used at work.

Newinski died at his home Tuesday Feb 10 at the age of 64.

Dr. Haining Yang as received a two-year, $100,000 grant from the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation as well as a two-year, $120,000 grant from the Hawai’i Community Foundation’s Leahi Fund. Dr Yang is Assistant Professor (Researcher), Cancer Research Center of Hawaii; John A. Burns School of Medicine Dr. Yang’s focus is “asbestos and mesothelioma pathogenesis. Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is a very aggressive tumor that causes approximately 2,500 deaths per year in the U.S. MM is incurable unless detected in its earlier stages. “

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia has the new Asbestos Disease Research Centre, a state-of-the-art facility.

The Australian Federal Government is commiting $5 million the new centre, located at Sydney’s Concord Hospital.