Patients with advanced malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) treated with a combination of surgery to remove the cancer but save their lung, plus photodynamic therapy and chemotherapy, had a median survival of nearly three years, with a subset of patients living longer than seven years, according to new research published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.
Showing posts with label malignant mesothelioma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label malignant mesothelioma. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Monday, April 7, 2014
Corporate Conspiracy: Has Anything Really Changed?
Today I was watching the recorded episode of yesterday’s episode of Saturday Night Live (SNL), as I was deeply entrenched in the NCAA Final Four competition last night and missed it live. The “cold opening” was a purportedly laughable sketch about the testimony of the CEO of General Motors, Mary Barra, on The Hill last week, avoiding questions about the decade long conspiracy to conceal a faulty ignition system in its vehicles.
Actually, I love to multi-task, so I was also reading a summary judgment motion in an asbestos related claim involving a worker who died of mesothelioma, a rare cancer, decades after his initial exposure to asbestos fiber which has been scientifically causally related. Embedded in the allegations of the complaint was a strong argument about the corporate conspiracy of the asbestos industry and its efforts to doctor up scientific studies long ago beginning at the Saranac Laboratories and through subsequent publications.
The players in the asbestos drama were industry leaders such as: Johns-Manville Corporation, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, The Union Asbestos and Rubber Company and Raybestos Manhattan, and others. Those were household names at my dinner table, including the world renown research-physician, Irving J. Selikoff, MD, when I was growing up. I am a second-generation asbestos litigator. The plot unfolded even more during my career in litigation arising out of the Passaic NJ facility of Raybestos-Manhattan Inc. and fortuitous discovery of the infamous “Sumner Simpson” papers. Albeit that everyone wants to take credit for the discovery, it is yet another story to told on a later date.
The Doctrine of Corporate Conspiracy continues to pervade American Industry as dollars over human life continue to be an unending and tragic plot. Similar allegations have played out in the: tobacco litigation, breast implant litigation, latex glove litigation, medical device litigation, lead paint industry, medical device and pharmaceutical production litigation, complaints about toxic water pollution by drillers and mining companies, and the list goes on and on.
Corporate lobbying changed direction of workers’ compensation in the mid-1950’s with national amendments embracing silica exposure claims into the system. It was the same forefront of the expansion of dust disease claims such as asbestosis. All intentionally done to avoid corporate liability within the nation’s civil justice system. Fortunately, the Courts balanced the playing field, and expanded benefits for injured workers and their families into a most realistic realm of compensatory and punitive damages. The rationale for the expansion was based of the then trending theory of corporate conspiracy.
I asked myself this afternoon, what has really changed? This week, ironically, is “National Asbestos Awareness Week,” and has asbestos yet been banned in the US? No. Does the same battle continue today to make the workplace safer while fighting corporations that continue to resist, ignore, delay and deny? I listened again to the testimony of the Congressional hearings in Washington this week. Has anything really changed?
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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Malignant Mesothelioma Treatment (PDQ®)
Malignant mesothelioma is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the lining of the chest or abdomen.
Malignant mesothelioma is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells are found in the pleura (the thin layer of tissue that lines the chest cavity and covers the lungs) or the peritoneum (the thin layer of tissue that lines the abdomen and covers most of the organs in the abdomen). This summary is about malignant mesothelioma of the pleura.
Respiratory anatomy; drawing shows right lung with upper, middle, and lower lobes; left lung with upper and lower lobes; and the trachea, bronchi, lymph nodes, and diaphragm. Inset shows bronchioles, alveoli, artery, and vein.
Anything that increases your chance of getting a disease is called a risk factor. Having a risk factor does not mean that you will get cancer; not having risk factors doesn’t mean that you will not get cancer. Talk to your doctor if you think you may be at risk.
Many people with malignant mesothelioma have worked or lived in places where they inhaled or swallowed asbestos. After being exposed to asbestos, it usually takes a long time for malignant mesothelioma to form. Other risk factors for malignant mesothelioma include the following:
Possible signs of malignant mesothelioma include shortness of breath and pain under the rib cage. |
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