National Asbestos Week: What is Asbestos and Why is it Bad for Our Health?

This week is National Asbestos Awareness Week. To commemorate this event the ADAO is holding its 6th International Asbestos Awareness Conference. The following is a cross-post from that event.

What is Asbestos and Why is it Bad for Our Health?
April 2nd

By Richard Lemen
PhD, MSPH, Assistant Surgeon General, USPHS (Ret.) & Rear Admiral (Ret.)

Asbestos is a commercial term referring to a group of naturally-occurring fibrous minerals. Asbestos has remarkable durability and resistance to heat, properties conferring value in a wide range of products including building and pipe insulation, friction products including brake shoes, and fire-resistant bricks. Asbestos has been woven into fireproof cloth and incorporated into cement pipes used for water transport and into erosion-resistant cement roofing tiles. Unfortunately, asbestos fibers are also inhalable, and once inhaled, cause grave health risk, apparently because of their physical characteristics and bio-persistence in the body. Asbestos exposure causes a wide range of serious and fatal health conditions including pleural changes (plaques, thickening, breathlessness, loss of lung function), asbestosis (scarring of the lungs), cor-pulmonale (right sided heart enlargement and then failure), lung cancer, mesothelioma (cancer of the linings of the lung or abdomen), laryngeal cancer, gastro-intestinal cancers (including stomach, colon, rectal), ovarian cancer, and is suspected of causing kidney cancers.  All asbestos fiber types have been found to cause all major types of asbestos-related disease, including chrysotile, the most commonly used form of asbestos. In reality, most asbestos use involves either intentional mixing of different fiber types or inadvertent contamination of a fairly pure product with small quantities of another (natural contamination). Today world production of asbestos is highest from Brazil, Canada, China, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Zimbabwe. Vast amounts of asbestos are still used in many developing countries where exposure is not limited to just workers, by also non-occupational groups including children. For these reasons and because scientists have not been able to determine a safe level of exposure to asbestos most industrial countries have banned its use. However, this has not been true for Canada or the United States where products can still contain asbestos.*Dr. Lemen is the Retired Assistant Surgeon General who has recently been appointed by President Obama to the Presidential Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health. He will present at ADAO’s 6th International Asbestos Awareness Conferenceon April 10th. Click here to read more about asbestos and workers' compensation. Click here to read about asbestos litigation.

Positive Pathological Findings in the Lungs of World Trade Center Patients

The forensic pathological skills of the Mt. Sinai Medical Center (MSMC) in New York have yet again revealed the mysteries of an occupational exposure. MSMC was the medical laboratory of Irving J. Selikoff and sentinel studies on asbestos related disease attributing exposure to asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioms.

MSMC took the early initiative in medically investigating the World Trade Center (WTC) first responders. Following up on the 2001 event MSMC had conducted pathologic evaluations of WTC dust present in lung tissue of a sampling of the lose exposed to WTC dust. It is estimated that between 60,000 to 70,000 responders have been exposed.

"We found that three of the seven responders had severe or moderate restrictive disease clinically. Histopathology showed interstitial lung disease consistent with small airways disease, bronchiolocentric parenchymal disease, and nonnecrotizing granulomatous condition. Tissue mineralogic analyses showed variable amounts of sheets of aluminum and magnesium silicates, chrysotile asbestos, calcium phosphate, and calcium sulfate. Small shards of glass containing mostly silica and magnesium were also found. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) of various sizes and lengths were noted. CNT were also identified in four of seven WTC dust samples."

Click here to read more about the WTC exposures and workers' compensation.

Bio-Tech Worker Awarded $1.37 Million in Suit Against Pfizer

A former bio-technical scientist of Pfizer was awarded $1.37 Million dollars as a result of being infected by an experimental virus in the company's laboratories. After a 3 week trial, the award was entered in what is  considered to be the first successful employee claims in the biotech and nanotech industry.

While the intentional tort claim was dismissed by the Judge  and injured worker proceeded under the theory that the company, Pfizer, violated whistleblower laws. The plaintiff also alleged that The Occupational Safety and Health Administration failed to thoroughly investigate the matter and take action.

Click here for  a detailed analysis of the case "Prescription for Bioterrorism by Steve Zeltzer.


Click here to read more about nanotechnology and workers compensation.

Revised CMS Implementation Timetable - Mandatory Reporting

Revised March 29, 2010

Liability Insurance (including Self-Insurance), No-Fault Insurance and Workers’ Compensation (Non-GHP or NGHP):

Medicare Secondary Payer Mandatory Reporting Provisions in Section 111 of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (See 42 U.S.C. 1395y(b)(7)&(b)(8))

Revised Implementation Timeline

Note: “RRE” stands for “responsible reporting entity.” “COBSW” stands for “Coordination of Benefits Secure Web site.” “COBC” stands for CMS’ Medicare “Coordination of Benefits Contractor.”

• 05/01/2009

Electronic registration via the Section 111 COBSW began for all liability insurance (including self- insurance), no-fault insurance and workers’ compensation RREs (NGHP RREs) excluding foreign RREs.

• 07/01/2009

Test and production Query Input Files accepted for NGHP RREs that completed registration and are in a testing status (the RRE’s signed Profile Report has been received by the COBC).

• 01/01/2010 – 12/31/2010

Claim Input File testing period for all NGHP RREs.  

• 04/05/2010

Electronic registration commences via the Section 111 COBSW for foreign NGHP RREs (those that are based in countries outside the United States and have no Internal Revenue Service-assigned tax identification number and/or US mailing address).

• 01/01/2011 – 03/31/2011

All NGHP RREs must submit initial Section 111 Claim Input production files to the COBC according to assigned file submission timeframes for their RRE IDs.

• 04/01/2011

All NGHP RREs must be reporting production Claim Input Files on a quarterly basis by this date.

Click here to rad more about CMS and mandatory reporting and workers' compensation.

At Home Injury Held Compensable

A truck driver who did maintenance on his vehicle at home on Sunday was allowed to recover benefits. The Court held that the injury occurred "within the course of the employment" even though the accident occurred off premises and not during normal work hours.


GUILLERMO CHAVERRI - v. CACE TRUCKING INCORPORATED -Respondent  SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION DOCKET NO. A-3619-07T23619-07T2 Decided March 30, 2010


Click here to read more about premises and off-premises claims under workers' compensation.

Ohio Upholds New Limits on Liability Actions Against Employers

The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld a 2005 statute that restricts an employee's direct liability actions against employers. The statute requires a showing that the employer deliberately intended to injury an employee. Employees remain restricted to the the Ohio workers' compensation remedy for recovery of benefits.

"As this court has often recognized, workers' compensation laws are the result of a unique mutual compromise between employees and employers, in which employees give up their common-law remedy and accept possibly lower monetary recovery, but with greater assurance that they will receive reasonable compensation for their injury," Justice Robert Cupp wrote in one of the two opinions he authored. "Employers in turn give up common-law defenses but are protected from unlimited liability."

The issue was decided when the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio certified constitutional questions to the Ohio Supreme Court.

Kaminski v. Metal & Wire Prods. Co. (Slip Opinion)

2008-0857

3/23/2010

3/23/2010

2010-Ohio-1027

Stetter v. R.J. Corman Derailment Servs., L.L.C. (Slip Opinion)

2008-0972

3/23/2010

3/23/2010

2010-Ohio-1029

Click here to read more about intentional actions and workers' compensation.

Putting a Value on Occupational Cancer Claims

Giving the sick the benefit of the doubt was the mantra the US District Court Judge charged with overseeing the settlement of 911 of the claims of the first responders. The Judge rejected the settlement of $575 several days ago as being inadequate.

The original settlement was crafted by the parties to cover the nearly 10,000 parties to the lawsuit. The Judge recognizes the difficulties in proving cancer claims and the unpredictability of the disease. The original cap offered was $100,000. The Judge said that was inadequate and suggested to the parties to find some method of increasing the benefits.

The 911 first responders were exposed to asbestos and petroleum products that could result in many types of future malignancies, including, lung cancer, mesothelioma and leukemia.

Click here to read more 911 claims.