A controversy-plagued plan to expand an asbestos mine in Quebec has been inflicted a serious blow to the relief of advocates for victims of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.
It comes just as the level of protest against Canada’s asbestos producers and in particular its export policies is reaching a fever pitch.
Asbestos, a material with heat- and fire-resistant qualities that made it a popular building material before a link to deadly cancers and other conditions was scientifically established, is still present in countless structures in North America.
Canada exports it, largely to countries in the third world. Indeed, the province of Quebec, the center of Canadian asbestos production, shipped $97 million worth of asbestos fiber abroadin 2008. It is the world’s fifth-largest producer of asbestos and the fourth-largest exporter.
Quebec’s actions are particularly troubling, say mesothelioma lawyers and researchers. This is because many developing nations do not have regulations and safety practices in place for handling and using asbestos, increasing the risk that workers and others exposed to the material may develop asbestos-related diseases like lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer of the protective lining covering many of the body’s organs.
Mesothelioma, which can take decades to develop, carries a prognosis that is invariably grim. While mesothelioma lawyers have succeeded in recovering large jury awards and settlements for victims, researchers have yet to create an effective long-term treatment.
Now, a $58 million loan guarantee from the Quebec provincial government may be in jeopardy. It was supposed to be the chief financing tool for expansion of the asbestos-producing Jeffrey Mine in the Quebec town of Asbestos.
In parallel, the British Broadcasting Corp., in partnership with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, has released the results of an intensive nine-month examination into the global asbestos industry and the Montreal-based Chrysotile Institute’s roll in marketing asbestos abroad.
The investigation, titled “Dangers in the Dust,” found that in an effort to promote asbestos sales on global markets, the institute and its affiliated entities have laid out $100 million in both public and private funding since the mid-1980s in just three countries : Canada, India, and Brazil.
The spending has come as the perils of asbestos exposure and the resulting asbestos and mesothelioma lawsuits have become more widely publicized. Medical experts, victims of asbestos exposure, and mesothelioma lawyers have all called for an outright ban on the material. And the public has become increasingly conscious of and worried by the health risks of asbestos.
That has led to an outcry against the proposed expansion project in Quebec, and demonstrations in cities across the globe.
“The level of protest has really gone up, especially over the past year or so,” said Jim Morris, one of the lead journalists in the BBC/ ICIJ investigation.
“One of the real surprises, Morris indicated, was how closely the pro-asbestos lobby groups work with one another.” “Groups in India, Russia, and Mexico work very closely with the Chrysotile Institute . . . sharing information, coordinating their public relations strategies.
And they’ve been pretty successful. In countries like India, they’ve overwhelmed the activists and the health organizations.”
While Quebec Premier Jean Charest has not commented on the BBC report, Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff made his position clear last month, when the results of the investigation were released.
“It has become impossible to export a product like [asbestos], because we can’t have guarantees that it will not be harmful in India or in other countries.”
The fear, of course, is that asbestos exports may guarantee something else entirely: more disease, more deaths, and more work for mesothelioma lawyers. With the new report and increasing public protests, that’s something opponents of asbestos production now hope is less likely to happen.
This news story was brought to you by the mesothelioma lawyers at Cooney & Conway. For more than half a century, we have been advocates for those injured due to the wrongful actions of others. We have litigated and resolved some of the nation’s most significant asbestos lawsuits, bringing justice and compensation to victims of asbestos exposure and the lung cancer, mesothelioma, and other deadly diseases it can cause
Mesothelioma Prognosis: 4 Factors that Change a Mesothelioma Prognosis
Nearly 3,000 people will be diagnosed with Mesothelioma every year in the United States alone. This serious disease is known for having a somewhat grim outlook, as there is no cure for this specific, asbestos-caused type of cancer.
With that being said, there are some who will have a better Mesothelioma prognosis than others. There are various factors that completely change the Mesothelioma prognosis for each individual. It is important for all to take the time to understand how each factor can change the Mesothelioma prognosis for the suffering individual.
#1 – Type of Mesothelioma
The exact type of Mesothelioma that you have is going to completely change the outlook of your prognosis. Those who come down with more serious forms of Mesothelioma, like Pericardial Mesothelioma, are going to have a difficult Mesothelioma prognosis. This is because of the location of the Mesothelioma and that importance of the organ surrounded by the Mesothelioma itself.
#2 – Stage of Mesothelioma
Your Mesothelioma prognosis will change drastically based on the stage that the Mesothelioma is in when it is found. Those who have found the Mesothelioma in early stages are going to have a decent Mesothelioma prognosis. Those who catch it in late stages will not have long to live, or will have a somewhat dire Mesothelioma prognosis.
#3 – Success of the Surgery
There are various forms of surgery available for those who are looking for a better Mesothelioma Prognosis. Those who have just found their Mesothelioma, and have found it in an early stage, can work to have some of the Mesothelioma removed. While this will not cure the Mesothelioma, it can help to increase the Mesothelioma prognosis by extending the life span.
Those who already have Mesothelioma and have it in its later stages can try surgery that will try to remove some of the parts of the Mesothelioma that are causing some issue. The success of this surgery could lead to a slightly better Mesothelioma prognosis.
#4 – General Immune System Health
The strength of your immune system will have a somewhat drastic effect on your Mesothelioma prognosis. Those with stronger immune system will find that they have a decent Mesothelioma prognosis. Those who have hampered immune systems from other diseases or problems may find that their Mesothelioma prognosis is less than stellar.
These various factors will not be able to cure Mesothelioma, as there is still no cure for the cancer. With that being said, the Mesothelioma prognosis can completely change the outlook on someone’s life. There are some people who will catch the Mesothelioma early, having a strong prognosis with a long life expectancy. There will be others who have a bad prognosis, as they do not catch the Mesothelioma until late. Understanding the factors that affect a Mesothelioma prognosis will help you to understand what to expect for you or someone you know who has just been diagnosed with Mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma Prognosis: 4 Factors that Change a Mesothelioma Prognosis
Nearly 3,000 people will be diagnosed with Mesothelioma every year in the United States alone. This serious disease is known for having a somewhat grim outlook, as there is no cure for this specific, asbestos-caused type of cancer.
With that being said, there are some who will have a better Mesothelioma prognosis than others. There are various factors that completely change the Mesothelioma prognosis for each individual. It is important for all to take the time to understand how each factor can change the Mesothelioma prognosis for the suffering individual.
#1 – Type of Mesothelioma
The exact type of Mesothelioma that you have is going to completely change the outlook of your prognosis. Those who come down with more serious forms of Mesothelioma, like Pericardial Mesothelioma, are going to have a difficult Mesothelioma prognosis. This is because of the location of the Mesothelioma and that importance of the organ surrounded by the Mesothelioma itself.
#2 – Stage of Mesothelioma
Your Mesothelioma prognosis will change drastically based on the stage that the Mesothelioma is in when it is found. Those who have found the Mesothelioma in early stages are going to have a decent Mesothelioma prognosis. Those who catch it in late stages will not have long to live, or will have a somewhat dire Mesothelioma prognosis.
#3 – Success of the Surgery
There are various forms of surgery available for those who are looking for a better Mesothelioma Prognosis. Those who have just found their Mesothelioma, and have found it in an early stage, can work to have some of the Mesothelioma removed. While this will not cure the Mesothelioma, it can help to increase the Mesothelioma prognosis by extending the life span.
Those who already have Mesothelioma and have it in its later stages can try surgery that will try to remove some of the parts of the Mesothelioma that are causing some issue. The success of this surgery could lead to a slightly better Mesothelioma prognosis.
#4 – General Immune System Health
The strength of your immune system will have a somewhat drastic effect on your Mesothelioma prognosis. Those with stronger immune system will find that they have a decent Mesothelioma prognosis. Those who have hampered immune systems from other diseases or problems may find that their Mesothelioma prognosis is less than stellar.
These various factors will not be able to cure Mesothelioma, as there is still no cure for the cancer. With that being said, the Mesothelioma prognosis can completely change the outlook on someone’s life. There are some people who will catch the Mesothelioma early, having a strong prognosis with a long life expectancy. There will be others who have a bad prognosis, as they do not catch the Mesothelioma until late. Understanding the factors that affect a Mesothelioma prognosis will help you to understand what to expect for you or someone you know who has just been diagnosed with Mesothelioma.
The Second Major Version of the Advice for Mesothelioma Site Has Been Recently Launched
The launching of Advice for Mesothelioma 2.0, which includes countless new features that are both user friendly and more accessible, has been announced.
The site, which is dedicated to create awareness on the disease called Mesothelioma, has just been unveiled in its new form. It has been completely re-designed, giving it a fresh Web 2.0 look. One of the newest things is the adding of videos, which makes the site more user-friendly and helpful.
Advice for Mesothelioma is an online resource center on Mesothelioma and it contains important information about the various forms of the disease. The site is updated on a weekly basis with new facts and helpful advices.
The site has been online for 4 years and, since the start, its pure purpose was to raise awareness over Mesothelioma and to offer a helpful online resource to people who suffer from the disease. The new improved version of the http://www.adviceformesothelioma.com has brought along new tools, lots of new content and the possibility of viewing related videos. By successfully remaking the site in HTML5, the search and reading of the new information can be the most user-friendly experience possible.
Mesothelioma is a very serious but rare disease and the website is exactly what a sufferer needs, because of the helpful information and facts that it contains. And now, it’s presented in a new design that keeps up with the times we live in. Sufferers should know that there are great web resources out there that are set to shed a light on the disease.
Mesothelioma Alert: Florida Mayor Wants Asbestos Pipes Removed From Development Site
Broward County FL, Mesothelioma News - The asbestos-laden pipes in a closed mobile home park have got to go, according to the Judy Paul, mayor of Davie, Florida. She cites concerns that the pipes, part of a shuttered mobile home complex scheduled for redevelopment into a park, pose a risk for deadly asbestos-related diseases.
Mayor Paul isn’t alone in her concern. Across the country, asbestos lawyers and experts have long warned any work that disturbs the material, still present in countless structures, could release asbestos fibers that can be easily inhaled by those nearby. That’s worrisome because those fibers can later trigger diseases like lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer of the protective lining covering many of the body’s organs.
While mesothelioma lawyers have been successful in obtaining large settlements and jury awards from those who have improperly used and handled asbestos, medical researchers have fared less well: Mesothelioma is nearly always fatal.
Town staffers had previously contended that the asbestos-cement pipes, which used to function as drinking water and sewer lines for the Palma Nova mobile home park, were safe enough to provide drinking water for a future park. But during a town council meeting in August, Mayor Paul said she’d rather not take any chances.
“There is something I want to put to rest,” Paul said. “When the Palma Nova land is developed as a park, I want it on record that we will remove and replace the [asbestos] pipes. It’s just the right thing to do.”
Locating and removing the asbestos-laden pipes will cost more than $30,000, according to town officials. That raises a point that has dogged efforts to handle and remove asbestos responsibly: Because asbestos inspections and the safe removal of the cancer-causing material can be costly, developers and others often avoid or improperly perform the necessary work, which raises the risk of asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma down the road.
Such behavior has led not only to much preventable disease but has kept the courts busy, too, with mesothelioma lawyers filing and often winning asbestos lawsuits on behalf of stricken clients and their families.
Four of Davie’s council members have said they did not know the land contained asbestos pipes when they agreed to buy it in December for $12.5 million.
The plan to remove the pipes requires official approval from the town council. No vote was taken during August meeting.
This news story was brought to you by the mesothelioma lawyers at Cooney & Conway. For more than half a century, we’ve brought relief and recovery to those injured by the negligence or harmful actions of others. In the process, we’ve litigated some of the country’s most significant asbestos lawsuits, helping victims of mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other asbestos-related diseases get answers and justice.
Stronger growth but double-dip worries persist
UK economic growth in the second quarter was revised up unexpectedly yesterday to an even punchier 1.2%, as it emerged household spending growth had been surprisingly strong at 0.7%.
However, even though this growth rate represented the UK’s fastest quarter-on-quarter expansion since the opening three months of 2001, business lobbying groups warned of the continuing danger of a double-dip in economic output as the country braces for swingeing public spending cuts.
And US growth in the three months to June was yesterday revised down by the Commerce Department from 2.4% to 1.6% - equivalent to 0.4% quarter-on-quarter - adding to worries about the momentum of the world’s largest economy and the knock-on impact on the UK and other countries.
Yesterday’s revised UK gross domestic product data from the Office for National Statistics showed that re-stocking played a big part in second-quarter growth, and this boost would seem unlikely to last. And, in spite of the boost to UK exporters’ competitiveness from sterling’s relative weakness, net trade did not contribute to overall growth.
This disappointing net trade outturn signals the hoped-for UK economic rebalancing, away from domestic consumer spending towards exports, is still not materialising.
Overall investment fell by 2.4% quarter-on-quarter in the three months to June, signalling businesses remain cautious on this front.
The continuing strength of household spending is surprising given the multitude of pressures on household incomes and a raft of surveys showing falling consumer confidence. A report this week from Schroders showed nearly one-third of UK adults had raided savings and investments over the past year to cover income shortfalls, with these people withdrawing £60bn in total or an average of £4600 each.
However, the spending power of many households with tracker mortgages has been boosted by record low UK base rates of 0.5%.
Second-quarter growth in the construction sector has been revised up from 6.6%, the ONS’s figure when it published its first estimate of second-quarter GDP late last month, to 8.5%.
This offset a downward revision of second-quarter growth in the UK’s dominant service sector from 0.9% to 0.7%. The UK manufacturing sector grew by 1.6% quarter-on-quarter in the three months to June.
Graeme Leach, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, said yesterday: “Today’s figures are obviously good news but we shouldn’t get carried away. Instead of looking in the rear-view mirror at what has passed, it would be wiser for us to keep our eyes on the road ahead. We don’t expect this level of growth to be sustained through the second half of 2010. But whether or not this slide will turn into a quarterly decline or a double-dip recession remains highly uncertain.”
David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “The upward revision to GDP in the second quarter is good news. This puts the UK in a better-than-expected position as we prepare for the austerity measures that will be introduced over the next few years.”
However, he added: “The figures do contain some worrying features. Growth in services has been revised down and capital investment fell after recording strong growth in the first quarter...It is important to bear in mind that the implementation of the tough deficit-cutting programme will inevitably have a serious dampening effect on demand, and risks of an economic setback remain.
“Given the fragility of the situation, it would be dangerous for the Monetary Policy Committee to consider raising interest rates any time soon. Businesses are still facing huge pressures and interest rates must stay as low as possible for as long as possible.”
Samuel Tombs, UK economist at consultancy Capital Economics, said: “The fact that net trade made no contribution whatsoever to GDP growth added to evidence suggesting that the weak pound is failing to provide much support to the external sector.”
The UK economy grew by 0.3% in the first quarter, having emerged from deep recession in the final three months of last year.
Tombs said: “While the recovery picked up considerable pace in the second quarter, the absence of any signs that the economy has become better balanced leads us to continue to expect pretty sluggish GDP growth over the next year or so. We maintain our view that the economy will expand by only 1.5% this year and next.”
The Office for Budget Responsibility expects 2011 growth of 2.3%.
Andrew Goodwin, senior economic adviser to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club think-tank, said: “We’re not getting too carried away by the apparent strength of these figures – big question-marks remain over the construction figures. Regardless of the debate over the accuracy of the data, Q2 looks like being the high watermark for growth. The expenditure data produced some surprises. The consumer sector is showing great resilience...given that incomes are being squeezed by high prices and weak earnings.”
Cancer treatment spared months of chemotherapy by 24-hour test - Telegraph
The test predicts how well breast cancer patients will respond to chemotherapy Photo: ALAMY
In a trial of breast cancer patients, the test proved able to indicate who would benefit from the most common chemotherapy drug within 24 hours.
Patients currently have to undergo a 12 week course of the treatment, which is known for its unpleasant side effects, before doctors can tell whether they are responding.
Anthracyline, the most commonly-used chemotherapy drug for breast cancer, is only effective in about a quarter of the 46,000 women who are diagnosed with the disease each year.
The new test would help the remaining three quarters of suffers avoid months of distress and discomfort before finding out that their treatment has not worked. They could then be transferred to alternative drugs or hormone treatments.
The test, which was developed at the Institute for Cancer Research (ICR) in London, is expected to be similarly effective at predicting how patients will respond to chemotherapy for ovarian cancers and could be adapted for other forms of the disease.
It works by measuring the levels of RAD51 – a protein which helps repair DNA in damaged cells – in tissue taken from tumours.
A quarter of all breast cancer patients carry a genetic variant that disables the protein in cancer cells, meaning that they are unable to repair themselves after being targeted by chemotherapy.
But RAD51 remains effective in the remaining three quarters of cancer sufferers, making their tumours more resistant to chemotherapy.
Caroline Hoffman, of the charity Breast Cancer Haven, said: “This is a welcome step towards targeting breast cancer treatments to the individual, which will help reduce unnecessary suffering and side effects.”
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