New 911 Photos Dramatically Illustrate Toxic Cloud

The horrific tragedy of the attack on the World Trade Center on 911 and the toxic cloud of fumes and dust are vividly portrayed in newly released photos. The massive extend of the spread of toxic substances has given rise to resultant disease and illness to emergency first responders and residents of lower Manhattan.

ABC secured the release of the photos by a Freedom of Information Act Request to the New York Police Department (NYPD). The photos were taken  from an NYPD helicopter immediately following the attack when two large jet liners, loaded with fuel and passenger, were seized by terrorists and crashed into the buildings.

The fight to secure adequate medical care for medical conditions flowing from the exposures has been very problematic. While several local agencies have attempted to provide medical care, the lack of funds and a unified program has left many without appropriate medical care.

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Travelers Insurance Lobbies Congress With $1.66 Million

The Associated Press reports today that, "Insurer Travelers Cos. spent $1.66 million in the fourth quarter to lobby the federal government on global warming issues, workers compensation, consumer protection rights and other issues, according to a recent disclosure report." Travelers "also lobbied on issues including the National Insurance Consumer Protection Act, coastal wind zone proposals, bankruptcy issues and asbestos-related legislation."


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Workers Compensation Countable as Income Despite Special Needs Trust

An injured worker was denied food stamps in NJ because money from a workers' compensation  award was countable as income despite the existence of a special needs trust.

"A special needs trust that effectively exempts assets or income from inclusion in Medicaid eligibility calculation can be established for the benefit of an individual deemed disabled pursuant to 42 U.S.C.A. § 1382c(a)(3). 42 U.S.C.A. § 1396p(d)(4)(A). The disability determination, however, can only be made by the Social Security Administration or the state disability review team, and only based on the definition set forth in the federal statute. See N.J.A.C. 10:71-3.10 to -3.12(a). Hence, the workers' compensation court judgment as to petitioner's disability, issued by a judge in the workers' compensation context, is not dispositive of whether she is "disabled" pursuant to the federal definition. See N.J.A.C. 10:71-3.10. As the Director of DMHS stated, unless and until petitioner is found to be disabled by the Social Security Administration or the state disability review team, she is not entitled to protect her assets through the use of a special needs trust. See Determining Disability and Blindness, 20 C.F.R. § 404.1504 (2009); Determining Disability and Blindness, 20 C.F.R. § 416.904 (2009)."

J.C. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, et al., Docket No.: a5632-07 Decided: 2010-02-08 
http://lawlibrary.rutgers.edu/courts/appellate/a5632-07.opn.html


Note: N.J.A.C. 10:71-3.10 Disability and Blindness Factors
For purposes of determining medical eligibility for the Medicaid Only program, the disability and blindness standards shall be the same as for the Supplemental Security Income program under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, as amended by Public Law 92-603. 42 N.J. Reg. No. 4.

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CMS Set-Aside Rules Raise Concern of Civil Trial Bar

At a recent continuing legal education program in Wisconsin members of the plaintiff and defense civil trial bar raised their concerns over the Rules governing CMS set-aside arrangements. While both sides recognized the need to reimburse Medicare, the methods being utilized by CMS to obtain reimbursement of future medical expenses caused deep concern by the lawyers.

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Secretary at Former Asbestos Plant Awarded $17.87 Million

A former secretary at an Illinois asbestos plant, Union Asbestos and Rubber Company (UNARCO) was awarded $17.87 Million as a result of contracting an asbestos related disease, mesothelioma. The woman was employed from 1967 to 1969 at UNARCO as a secretary.

The lawsuit alleged that Pneumo Abex LLC and Honeywell International Inc. and their corporate predecessors knew of the dangers of asbestos and failed to warn their employees and customers of the hazards.

UNARCO also operated an asbestos plant in Paterson NJ from 1942 through November, 1954. It produced asbestos pipe covering and textile material for US Navy ships and and others. The Paterson NJ group of workers, and their families, became the cohort group for sentinel studies conducted by the late Irving J. Selikoff, MD (1915-1992), who linked asbestos exposure to various disease including: asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. Those studies ultimately lead to a world renown conference in 1964 sponsored by The New York Academy of Sciences.

Asbestos is still mined in Canada. The use of asbestos in the United States has yet to be banned in the United States.

Disease caused by asbestos has resulted in an epidemic of disease and resulting massive amounts of workers' compensation occupational exposure claims and civil actions. Asbestos litigation has been deemed "The Longest Running Tort in American History."

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The Saga of Asbestos in LIbby Montana

The plight of the workers of Libby Montana may have been highlighted by efforts of Senator Harry Reid in the recent Senate Health Care Reform legislation, but it goes historically much deeper. While the hazardous of asbestos may have been studied for over a hundred years, it wasn't until a newspaper article 1999 did horrors of Libby become nationally recognized.

A a recent lecture Aubrey Miller, M.D. spoke on the plight of Libby and its people. An environmental epidemiologist and a captain in the U.S. Public Health Service board-certified in occupational medicine, Miller currently serves as the chief medical officer in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of the Commissioner's Office of Counterterrorism and Emerging Threats. Previously, he worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) as a regional health administrator, coordinating multi-agency emergency responses, such as the Libby situation.

"It's the worst site in EPA history in terms of human health......Even though asbestos has been studied for 100 years," he added, "the science and regulations were developed from worker studies for workplace settings and thus were not very useful for environmental situations and non-worker exposures."

Eddy Ball, a reporter covering the Miller's lecture to a capacity audience concluded, "Politics and financial interests further complicate the regulation of such environmental hazards as Libby's. For instance, there was ample evidence accruing for many years that environmental asbestos contamination was hazardous and that the Libby situation was 'a predictable surprise.' Based on his experiences Miller is convinced that 'there must be other Libbys occurring under our noses' in the U.S. Miller stated we need to challenge dogma and preconceptions about environmental exposures and who is at risk in order to identify disease and provide honest and useful solutions for our communities."

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Quebec's The Selling of Asbestos Called "Immoral"

The Montreal Gazette has called for a ban on the sale of asbestos. Asbestos continues to be  mined in Quebec.

Asbestos is a long known carcinogen causally related to asbestos, lung cancer and  mesothelioma (a rare and fatal disease.) A major effort has been underway internationally to ban asbestos as the epidemic of asbestos disease continues to be rampant.  Injured workers and their families have inundated workers' compensation system throughout the US highlighting insufficiencies in the system to provide adequate benefits and straining the traditional tort system.

In an editorial the paper stated, "The day should be long gone when a civilized society such as Quebec's knowingly sells a carcinogenic substance - asbestos - to a poorer, developing country such as India."" In an interview with an Indian publication in December, New Democratic Party MP Pat Martin said, 'Asbestos and tobacco are the two industries where the industry knows well it is killing people, but it survives by junk science and aggressive lobbying of politicians.'"

"A coalition of more than 100 scientific experts from 28 countries sent a letter to Charest [Quebec's Premier] last week, on the eve of his trade-mission visit to India, pointing out that Quebec is facing an uspurge of asbestos-related illness. Asbestos is to blame, the province's workers' compensation board says, in 60 per cent of the 104 cases of Quebec workers who died from work-related causes in a seven-month period last year."

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