Asbestos Daily

$140 Billion Asbestos Bill May Die

2005-03-02T08:50:00.000-08:00

A proposal for a $140 billion asbestos compensation fund will be put in the "deep freeze" unless lawmakers soon agree on the details, Senate Judiciary.

Specter, author of the draft bill to take asbestos injury claims out of court and pay them from the fund, said the proposal is at a critical stage and would be removed from his committee's agenda in the next few weeks if feuding continues on the fund's size and other issues.

"Now is the breakpoint," he said in an opinion article published in The Washington Times newspaper. "Prompt compromises will have to be forthcoming if this critical legislation is to become law or relegated to the deep freeze."

Asbestos was widely used for fireproofing and insulation until the 1970s. Scientists say its inhaled fibers are linked to cancer and other diseases.

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Folksonomies

asbestos compensation specter fireproofing insulation pennsylvania republican bankruptcy federal-mogul grace bush senate

Ruling Leaves Armstrong Still 'Paralyzed'

2005-02-28T20:02:00.000-08:00

When a federal judge last week rejected its plan for reorganizing and emerging from bankruptcy, the company was left with a variety of challenges.

Twice during its four-year bankruptcy, Armstrong has responded by winning bankruptcy court approval of expensive bonus programs for management.

Most recently, Armstrong won court approval to pay $9 million in bonuses to 130 top managers if they stay with the company through 2005.

Bankruptcy has been a sizable financial drain on Armstrong in another way.

It’s paying about $1 million to $2 million a month in professional fees to more than a score of law and financial advisory firms, according to Armstrong’s quarterly earnings reports.

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Folksonomies

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asbestos insulation Lancaster Robreno bankruptcy shareholder creditor Lockhart Congress Armstrong

Insurers, Agents Bask In Class-Action Victory Industry sets sights on reform bills for asbestos and medical malpractice claims

2005-02-25T19:21:00.000-08:00

The insurance industry raved about the class-action reform measure signed into law by President George W. Bush after an eight-year battle for passage, with the American Insurance Association declaring that the real winners are "all businesses held hostage by frivolous lawsuits."

In commending President Bush for signing the measure, the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America also praised leaders in both houses of Congress—including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and their allies in this effort—for working hard this month to get the bill to the president’s desk.

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Folksonomies

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Georgia Supreme Court Rules on Asbestos Liability and Employees' Families

2005-02-24T13:52:00.000-08:00

In each case, CSXT filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the "clothing exposure" claims were not viable under Georgia law because the company owed no duty to non-employees to protect them from exposure to airborne asbestos emitted from its employees’ work clothing away from the workplace. The federal district court denied the motion every time. But it also recognized that the duty issue raised by CSXT was one of first impression in Georgia, meaning the question had never arisen before in any reported case. With that in mind, the federal court effectively put all "clothing exposure" claims on hold until the Georgia Supreme Court supplied an answer to the question.

In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that CSXT was right.

[Read More]

Folksonomies

Georgia absestos legal government legislation liability CSXT

Judge Rejects Armstrong Bankruptcy Plan

2005-02-24T13:49:00.000-08:00

In his 41-page ruling, Robreno called the procedural history of the case "tortuous, even for a large Chapter 11 proceeding." He said the docket contains more than 7,800 entries, reflecting, among other things, "the shifting political winds buffeting the parties."

Under Armstrong's reorganization plan, an asbestos trust fund would have been established consisting of more than $234 million in cash and $519 million in notes and warrants for stock. Existing stockholders would have received warrants - valued at between $35 million and $40 million, or about $1 a share - to be used for the purchase of a new company stock.

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Folksonomies

Armstrong absestos legal government legislation liability bankruptcy

US senator resisting cut in asbestos claims fund

2005-02-24T13:43:00.000-08:00

Specter told a news conference he will meet next Tuesday with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and other Republicans to try to resolve differences over his asbestos proposal.

He said some Republicans wanted to reduce the size of the proposed fund, but noted the parties who would be financing it -- business and insurers -- endorsed the $140 billion amount last year along with the then-Senate leaders, including Frist.

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Folksonomies

Specter absestos legal government legislation liability

Florida to look at asbestos liability reform

2005-02-24T13:39:00.000-08:00

State Rep. Joe Pickens, a Republican whose district consists of Putnam County and portions of several adjacent counties, introduced the Asbestos and Silica Compensation Fairness Act of 2005—H.B. 1019—on Tuesday.

In addition to banning punitive damages, the measure would require that claimants meet specific medical criteria before being permitted to pursue a case. The measure also provides for potential collateral source offsets in settlements and judgments.

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Folksonomies

Florida absestos legal government legislation liability

Asbestos liability reform bill introduced in Texas

2005-02-23T18:57:00.000-08:00

Texas lawmakers are considering a bill that would require plaintiffs in asbestos and silica injury cases to meet certain medical criteria before their claims can go forward.

The measure also aims to head off "factually and medically baseless claims of individuals who have been mistakenly identified as claimants by marketing firms and screening companies in the business of creating 'inventories' of toxic tort claimants."

[Read More]

6 plead not guilty in asbestos conspiracy

2005-02-22T21:57:00.000-08:00

Six senior employees of W.R. Grace & Co. pleaded not guilty in federal court Tuesday to charges that they conspired for decades to hide the health dan

Charges include conspiracy, violating the Clean Air Act, wire fraud and obstruction of justice.

Sisters Helen McMillan Zak and Judy McMillan Shelmerdine, who both have asbestos disease after growing up in Libby, attended the arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Bart Erickson.

"I just wanted to see their faces," said Zak, of Stevensville, breathing with the aid of an oxygen tank.

Three of the women's four brothers have already died of asbestos disease, as did their father, who worked at the Libby mine.

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Labor Blasts Asbestos Bill

2005-02-22T21:31:00.000-08:00

Organized labor warned U.S. senators in a letter last week that it could not support an asbestos litigation bill that does not include a trust fund—a position that puts the AFL-CIO and its Democratic backers at odds with defendants and insurers, which in effect might kill reform in this Congress.

The AFL-CIO letter said the labor group is "deeply disturbed by the statements of some senators and some business and insurance groups calling for reopening agreements reached in the last Congress or returning to the terms of [a prior bill] as the legislative vehicle for consideration."

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US Congress Approves Clampdown On Class Action Lawsuits

2005-02-22T13:49:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (AFP) - The US Congress on Thursday passed a law to clampdown on class-action lawsuits, which critics say are costly and abused by attorneys who pocket enormous fees.
The House of Representatives passed The Class Action Fairness Act by 279-149 votes, reforming rules governing lawsuits mainly filed by groups of citizens against powerful corporations.
The first major piece of legislation approved by Congress this year, the bill was approved last week by the Senate and now goes to the White House for President George W. Bush's signature.
The president, a strong supporter of the legislation, applauded its approval by Congress Thursday.
"I commend the House for passing a class action reform bill that will help protect people who are wrongfully harmed while reducing the frivolous lawsuits that clog our courts, hurt the economy, cost jobs, and burden American businesses," he said in a statement.
The White house said a lawsuit is started every two seconds in the United States, and that the Class Action bill is an important first step in slowing the pace of litigation.
"Junk lawsuits have helped drive the cost of Americas tort system to more than 240 billion dollars a year -- greater than any other major industrialized nation.
"This bill is an important step forward in our efforts to reform the litigation system and to continue creating jobs and growing our economy," he said.
Tom DeLay, leader of the Republican majority in the House, called the vote "a major victory in the Republicans' decade-long fight to curb the rampant lawsuit abuse that rewards predatory lawyers more than victims."
"Consumers and businesses alike have been victimized by lawsuit abuse. Court dockets are backed up, companies are paying lawyers instead of employees, and our economy is suffering for it all," DeLay said.
Class-action lawsuits group together plaintiffs who consider themselves victims of the same business procedure -- consumers, employees or stockholders. Awards in such mass lawsuits can reach hundreds of millions of dollars.
One tobacco action in Florida, which is now before the state's Supreme Court, ordered major cigarette companies to pay 145 billion dollars to hundreds of thousands of cigarette smokers. The award was cancelled on appeal in 2003.
Among the most famous was a case fought by Erin Brockovich, which was turned into a Hollywood movie starring Julia Roberts. She won 333 million dollars from a chemical company that polluted land around a town.
Critics argue however that the plaintiffs rarely ever see much that money, which usually go to cover attorney fees.
The bill transfers the jurisdiction of most class-action lawsuits from state to federal courts to prevent lawyers from choosing a venue based on the generosity of the local jury.
Opponents of the bill, mostly Democrats, have said the changes would lead to the unfair dismissal of many worthy lawsuits by federal judges.
The leader of House Democrats, Nancy Pelosi, decried the legislation as "payback to big business at the expense of consumers."
"It is an extreme bill that is an injustice to consumers and a windfall for irresponsible corporations," she said.

More on Montana

2005-02-22T13:47:00.000-08:00

Feb 13 - The EPA arrived in Libby on Nov. 20, 1999, three days after the Seattle Post-Intelligencer published the first of scores of articles on the town - on how Grace concealed the dangers to people living and working there, and how the government knew what was happening and did nothing for decades.

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Asbestos Kills over 200 Montanans

2005-02-22T13:46:00.000-08:00

Feb- 15 -Asbestos released into the air from the now-closed W.R. Grace and Co. vermiculite mine just down the road is blamed by some health authorities for killing some 200 people and sickening one of every eight residents. Last week, a federal grand jury indicted the company and seven executives, accusing them of conspiring for decades to hide the danger. Grace has denied any criminal wrongdoing and said it looks forward to "setting the record straight" in court.

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Upon signing the Class-Action Bill, Bush says

2005-02-22T13:45:00.000-08:00

Feb- 17 "We have a responsibility to confront frivolous litigation head-on," Bush said. "I will continue working with Congress to pass meaningful legal reforms, starting with reform in our asbestos and medical liability systems."

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Asbestos Dangers During a White House Speech

2005-02-22T13:43:00.000-08:00

Feb 18 - ..."There's more to do. Small business owners across America fear that one junk lawsuit could force them to close their doors for good. Medical liability lawsuits are driving up the cost for doctors and patients and entrepreneurs around the country. Asbestos litigation alone has led to the bankruptcy of dozens of companies and cost tens of thousands of jobs, even though many asbestos claims are filed on behalf of people who aren't actually sick...."

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Bush Shields Companies in Asbestos Lawsuits

2005-02-22T13:40:00.000-08:00

"Unfortunately, the Bush administration cares only about shielding corporate bottom lines from well-deserved civil liability, even while its own Justice Department acknowledges that these corporations behaved criminally. Regardless, we shouldn't expect any more prosecutions, even though there are worse offenders than W.R. Grace & Co."

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Promina Group Shares Slide on Higher Asbestos Claims

2005-02-22T13:39:00.000-08:00

Shares in Promina Group Ltd., Australia's second-biggest general insurer, had a record slump after higher-than-expected asbestos-related claims made its policies less profitable.

The company's insurance margin, a measure of profitability, dropped to 10.1 percent last year from 10.4 percent in 2003, Sydney-based Promina said in a statement today. Net income in the second half of the year rose 56 percent to A$254 million ($200 million) after stock gains boosted investment earnings.

Promina increased provisions against asbestos claims 59 percent to A$204 million in the second half and doubled its forecast for future cases of mesothelioma, a related disease. The company is liable to claims that cover workers compensation.

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Hardie Facing US Death Lawsuits

2005-02-21T09:32:00.000-08:00

Hardie Industries will have to appear in a Californian court to defend claims it killed two Americans who worked with asbestos the company exported to the US.

The revelation came as Hardie shareholders, alarmed by revelations in The Australian about the company's US asbestos exposure, wiped almost $200million off its value in trading yesterday.

Hardie shares plummeted 40c since Friday's close to $6.15, a fall of 6.1 per cent.

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Reality May Stymie Desired Effects

2005-02-19T15:34:00.000-08:00

The class-action bill that President George W. Bush signed into law on Friday may not provide the sea change it was designed to, and it may take years before the law's applications fully play out.

Bush sees the law as the first of three steps to cleanse the country of frivolous suits - the next two being caps on medical malpractice awards and reform of asbestos litigation.

Opponents of the law say it is robbing consumers of an effective tool to fight deceptive and harmful practices by big corporations.

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Asbestos Analysis To Start This Month

2005-02-18T18:50:00.000-08:00

New Milford, CT is another community having asbestos problems in their schools.

All of the town's public schools were closed in the late spring of 2002 after tests indicated asbestos contamination. Contractors cleaned them that summer so that they could open Aug. 27, the scheduled date for the start of the new academic year.

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Miss. High Court Into Jones County Asbestos Cases

2005-02-18T18:45:00.000-08:00

The Mississippi Supreme Court has ordered 115 plaintiffs in an asbestos injury lawsuit to justify both their individual claims and why their cases should be heard in Jones County.

According to the court record, Circuit Judge Billy Joe Landrum designated a trial group of up to 12 plaintiffs, whose claims would then be tried together and would represent all plaintiffs. Landrum did not hold a hearing before issuing the order, according to court documents.

The 3M Co., one of the defendants, appealed on grounds the defendants should be forced to reveal the details of their individual claims.

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Indiana: Magnesium Fire May Have Spread Asbestos

2005-02-17T21:23:00.000-08:00

Debris from a recycling plant fire that prompted authorities to temporarily evacuate thousands of people from their homes last month may contain asbestos, Anderson officials said.

Magnesium in the plant caught fire Jan. 14, sending up plumes of smoke that could be seen miles away. Authorities that night evacuated about 8,000 people from their homes, fearing that the fire could have been sending toxic chemicals into the air. Days later, the company said in a letter to residents that the smoke wasn't toxic.

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Legacy of Libby: Bozeman Woman Surviving With Asbestosis

2005-02-17T10:59:00.000-08:00

Amy Rody grew up in Libby, MO, the former home of the W.R. Grace Co. vermiculate mine, and she has asbestosis. The disease is caused by breathing tremolite asbestos, which has fishhook-like fibers that embed in the lungs. Once a person gets asbestosis, they take it to the grave.

Although she left Libby more than five decades ago, Roby herself waas diagnosed in 1985. Despite her loss and suffering, Rody takes her disease in stride.

"It's just something I have to live with," she said. "I progressively can see I'm slipping too. But for a person who's been on oxygen for 10 years, I'm doing pretty good."

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Asbestos 'Anxiety' Compensation

2005-02-17T09:57:00.000-08:00

A move by insurers to stop paying out to people diagnosed with a condition showing asbestos exposure has failed. A High Court judge ruled thousands of people with pleural plaques - scarring on the lung lining - were still entitled to compensation.

Norwich Union, Zurich and British Shipbuilders, who took the case, said the condition did not impair quality of life or lead to more serious diseases, however the plantiff's lawyers argued that compensation was owed, due to the anxiety caused by seeing proof they have been exposed to asbestos

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ABB Posts Profit After 3 Years of Losses

2005-02-17T09:27:00.000-08:00

The engineering company ABB posted a fourth-quarter profit of $13 million on Thursday, compared with a loss of $391 million for the same period in 2003, helping the Swiss-Swedish concern return to profit for the year after three years of massive losses.

Between 2001 and 2003, ABB spent billions of dollars on restructuring and asbestos-related litigation, pushing it deep into the red.

But in 2004 the company posted a net profit of $201 million compared to a loss of $779 million in 2003. Full-year sales rose to $20.7 billion from $20.4 billion a year earlier.

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Jury Selection Under Way for Asbestos Trial

2005-02-17T09:26:00.000-08:00

As settlement talks broke down, prospects looked up for a trial involving out-of-state plaintiffs Willard and Elizabeth King of Fenton, Mo. who seek compensation for Willard's deadly asbestos-related mesothelioma. The couple filed suit June 2, 2004, alleging the disease was caused by his exposure to asbestos fibers.

Say the Jurors:

When asked about awarding damages for emotional distress, Juror 52, a young woman, told Wolf, “It would be hard for me to come up with a fixed amount if I lost my husband. My husband is worth more than any amount of money.”

In response to "how would you feel" about awarding a large sum of money for compensatory damages, a 71-year-old panelist said, "$20 million dollars is a lot of money for someone that age. (Willard King is 77). I think that it is too much. You have to be fair and logical when awarding money."

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Sen. Frist Voices Support for Asbestos Trust Fund

2005-02-16T15:20:00.000-08:00

Creating a new national trust fund to compensate victims of asbestos-related diseases is the only asbestos liability reform that can win Senate approval, the Senate majority leader said Wednesday.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., has been circulating draft legislation that would set up a $140 billion national trust fund to replace the current litigation-based system for compensating victims of asbestos-related disease. Not all the details of the fund have been worked out, though, and some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle remain skeptical of Sen. Specter’s approach.

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AFL-CIO Upset By US Asbestos Plan Reopening

2005-02-16T11:44:00.000-08:00

The AFL-CIO labor group is "deeply disturbed" by calls from some senators and business interests to reopen parts of a plan to create an asbestos compensation fund, the organization's legislative director William Samuel wrote in a letter released on Wednesday.

Under a proposal by Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, asbestos claims would be taken out of the courts and paid from a $140 billion fund instead. Some Republican senators have criticized aspects of the draft, including an idea, agreed in the last Congress, that claimants could return to court if the fund runs out of money.

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Canadian Workers May Have Been Exposed To WR Grace Asbestos

2005-02-16T08:40:00.000-08:00

Jim Brophy, head of the Occupational Health Clinic for Ontario Workers in Sarnia, and one of Canada's leading experts on asbestos says the province should aggressively search for former employees of a WR Grace vermiculite processing plant in Winnipeg to warn them of health hazards they faced on the job.

"Based on the information we have right now of how they were protecting their workers, and the fact that the compensation board hasn't received any claims – initially at least – we're fairly confident that workers were protected."

Brophy doesn't buy that argument. He says it's very likely workers never reported their illnesses to the compensation board. Brophy says workers didn't know much about how to handle asbestos thirty years ago, and he says their families may also have been exposed to asbestos fibres from clothing.

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ASBESTOS LAWSUIT LIMITATIONS MAY BE IN THE OFFING

2005-02-15T22:52:00.000-08:00

Charles Kramer lies awake most nights worrying about how his wife and daughter will survive financially after he dies of the terminal cancer that has wracked his body.

Lawmakers will be debating more changes to Texas' legal system and Kramer wants them to carefully consider his situation and that of hundreds of his buddies who also worked around asbestos. Many lawmakers and business leaders are calling for change in the system they say unfairly rewards people who are not sick at the expense of those, like Kramer, who are.

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Senators Try to Forge Bipartisan U.S. Asbestos Bill

2005-02-15T20:36:00.000-08:00

Senators are trying to jump-start stalled efforts on asbestos legislation by forging a bipartisan plan from proposals by Republican Sen. Arlen Specter and Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein, lawmakers said on Tuesday.

The effort aims to attract the support of Democrats while engaging with a group of Republicans who have criticized parts of Specter's plan to create a $140 billion fund that would take the compensation of asbestos victims out of the courts.

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Asbestos Indictment Rallies Montanans

2005-02-15T14:14:00.000-08:00

The reality of WR Grace's poisoning of Libby, Montana is gripping the residents of the small mining town, seemingly in surreal ways.

They're getting ready for the Asbestos Health Fair in this old mining town.

Posters promise "Door Prizes!!" and "Blood draw to participate in ongoing research!" Companies that sell home oxygen supplies will send reps. Doctors and researchers will be here. There will be consultants to help asbestosis victims apply for public aid. And there will be advice on finding help with the housework when the disease becomes too much.

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Asbestos: The Fall of Grace

2005-02-15T08:36:00.000-08:00

Corporations placing their employees in danger for a profit is not new to the American business landscape, and there is a catalog of crimes that corporate America has produced against the workers it relies upon. It's rare when they are held accountable, and rarer still when the executives of that company are also held liable for the actions of the corporation.

A federal grand jury in Montana last week placed W.R. Grace & Co. on that exclusive list. It indicted the company, along with seven former or current executives, on charges that they knowingly exposed workers, their families and people living in Libby, Mont., to hazardous asbestos, then tried to cover it up.

Much of the credit for uncovering the story of the workers' deaths and massive cover-up goes to reporter Andrew Schneider. He first broke the story in November 1999 while working at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, then doggedly stayed on the trail after joining the staff of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Schneider and David McCumber, a former colleague, have written a book called "An Air That Kills," which details their investigation.

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Florida Herald-Tribune Praises Bush Administration on Asbestos Policy

2005-02-15T08:24:00.000-08:00

The Florida Herald-Tribune claims to take the Bush administration to task for its environmental policies, however they claim that in the WR Grace indictments, there is evidence that the administration is getting tough on the environment.

We frequently have criticized the Bush administration for its environmental policies. A short list of complaints includes: failing to substantially limit emissions from power plants; pushing to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; allowing the cutting of old trees in pristine parts of national forests.

But we applaud the Bush administration for pursuing environmental justice in the mining town of Libby, Mont.

Perhaps the Herald Tribune is not looking close enough. The Bush Administration, in this case the DOJ, has no option but to be tough on WR Grace as the laws are currently set up to protect the environment from such a brutal raping as Grace gave.

What are Bush's plans for such protection in the future? Simply look at Bush's State of the Union address to see that he is not as good a friend to the environment as the Herald-Tribune deduces.

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Asbestos Used In Post Tsunami Rebuild

2005-02-15T08:22:00.000-08:00

An Australian parliamentarian has raised allegations that asbestos is being used as part of the reconstruction process in tsunami-affected countries such as Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The parliamentarian has initiated a campaign to ensure aid money is not being used to fund building with asbestos materials, such as cladding and insulation.

He believes that alternative materials, such as zinc alum, can be used for many of the projects and that aid funding should be tied to using non-asbestos materials.

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Demolition Raises Asbestos Fears

2005-02-14T19:44:00.000-08:00

The Eastgate Village apartment complex at the intersection of Northwest Highway and Plaza Drive near Interstate 635 was sold recently by the city of Garland, Texas to private developers. The developers ordered the 878-unit complex demolished to make room for a new development despite the presence of asbestos within the walls and ceilings of the structure.

"There's no way that they can wet this material enough to keep the fibers down from this whole community getting fiber," Jim McKee, an asbestos contractor, said.

"This should be abated before the demolition," Diana Cross asbestos contractor said. "That's the law."

[Read More]

Decision Due in Asbestos High Court Test Case

2005-02-14T19:41:00.000-08:00

Judgment is being given today in a High Court test case involving people suffering from the asbestos-related disease pleural plaques.

Those seeking damages say that although the plaques themselves rarely affect daily life, they cause anxiety for patients who know they have been exposed to asbestos and could therefore contract more serious diseases in the future, such as mesothelioma, a terminal cancer of the lining of the lungs.

[Read More]

UNLV Custodians Sue Over Asbestos

2005-02-14T15:45:00.000-08:00

In November, about 25 current and past UNLV custodians alleged the institution knowingly allowed workers to clean asbestos fibers for years without proper safety equipment or training.

Asbestos is presumed to exist in 30 facilities at UNLV. That's according to a 2004 list issued by facilities management. Much of it is embedded in floor tiles of the older structures.

[Read More]

AN AIR THAT KILLS: The ongoing use of asbestos

2005-02-14T15:28:00.000-08:00

AN AIR THAT KILLS is the story of the ongoing use of asbestos in products ranging from insulation to cat litter. It is the full tale of the tragedy that was, the people who fought back, the danger that continues, and the risks of exposure that are still out there in former processing plants, backyards, attics and even family cars.

AN AIR THAT KILLS (Berkley Trade Paperback January 2005) is one of the most important works of environmental journalism in years, eloquently told by the award-winning journalists that brought the story to the world - Andrew Schneider, Deputy Managing Editor for investigations for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and David McCumber, Managing Editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. This is the true story of a small Montana town devastated by a vermiculite mine owned by the profit hungry W.R. Grace & Co.

AN AIR THAT KILLS
How the Asbestos Poisoning of Libby, Montana
Uncovered a National Scandal
by Andrew Schneider and David McCumber
Berkley True Crime
October 2004 * $15.00 * ISBN: 0-425-20009-4

American Bar Association 2005 Salt Lake City Midyear Meeting Monday, Feb. 14

2005-02-14T15:24:00.000-08:00

Proposals that address the asbestos litigation crisis, oppose government interference with a patient’s ability to get information from health care providers, and consider how to compensate people who serve time for crimes they did not commit are among the issues to be debated Monday by the American Bar Association House of Delegates during the association’s Midyear Meeting in Salt Lake City.

Among the recommendations is Recommendation 104 which:

opposes government actions and policies that would interfere with patients’ abilities to receive from health care providers all relevant and necessary information they need to make fully informed health care decisions and information with respect to access to medically appropriate care. The resolution is intended to prevent government interference that would undermine longstanding principles of informed consent, and is intended to insure patients receive complete, accurate, unbiased and timely information about their treatment options. The resolution does not require health care providers to offer or endorse any particular medical service; or to offer information about alternative or experimental treatments that do not meet the medical standard of care.

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San Francisco Jury Awards $1.25 Million in Asbestosis Case

2005-02-11T20:26:00.000-08:00

A San Francisco jury unanimously awarded damages of $1.25 million to a retired pipefitter who developed asbestosis and asbestos pleural disease due to his on-the-job contact with asbestos.

The plaintiff, Geronia Quarles, was represented at trial by James Nevin and Christopher Andreas of Brayton Purcell in Novato, California. Advocate Mines, Ltd., the defendant, supplied asbestos fiber for Transite asbestos-cement pipe. It did not provide any warning to consumers about the asbestos fiber and continued to sell the product even though its miners had asbestos–related health problems.

[Read More]

EPA Fines Owner of Nevada Brothel

2005-02-11T20:22:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday that it has fined the owner of the now-closed Mustang Ranch $23,000 for improper removal of asbestos.

The owner, Lance Gilman, allegedly erred while moving the pink ranch building seven miles east to a new site where he owned another brothel.

The Mustang Ranch was Nevada's first legal bordello and in its heyday it made more than the $23,000 fine in a good hour, Lindeman said.

[Read More]

W.R. Grace Faces Asbestos Charges

2005-02-11T12:11:00.000-08:00

W.R. Grace and seven top executives conspired to release asbestos and to hide health problems at its asbestos–contaminated vermiculite mine in Libby, Montana, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“The situation in Libby provides an example of the shameful treatment that many workers have received from asbestos-related industries,” said Alan Brayton, founding and senior partner of Brayton Purcell, a law firm representing asbestos victims. “Many people are not aware of the extent of the damage caused by asbestos. It is responsible for an aggressive cancer known as mesothelioma as well as for asbestosis, which is a painful scarring of the lungs. These diseases take decades to develop, and we may only be seeing the beginning of the problem.”

The Brayton Purcell law firm provides further details about vermiculite and the charges against Grace on its specialty web site, Asbestos Network. The site also discusses asbestos-related diseases and asbestos exposure.

[Read More]

Federal Prosecutors Worry About Infuence of Bush, Cheney on Asbestos Litigation

2005-02-11T11:05:00.000-08:00

WR Grace, facing charges that it knowingly endangered the health of residents of Libby, Montana and obstructed justice, implied last week that it was blindsided by federal prosecutors, however the federal prosecutors were also facing some problems.

Prosecutors and witnesses were “terrified that it was going to be derailed at any moment,” Schneider said.

“They worried about Vice President Dick Cheney, who of course had his relationship with Halliburton, which had $4.3 billion worth of asbestos claims against them... They worried about his influence in killing off this prosecution. They worried about the asbestos legislation on the Hill that President Bush has been touting. Bush wins the election and goes on the stump talking about the poor corporations that have been bankrupt by these bogus cases. And that frightened the hell out of the investigators and a couple of the prosecutors.” (See Interview, 19 Corporate Crime Reporter 7, pages 10-16, February 14, 2005, print edition only).

[Read More]

Asbestos Defendants See Courts Turn In Their Favor

2005-02-11T11:03:00.000-08:00

Mississippi and Illinois, once viewed as good venues to bring an asbestos lawsuit, are losing their plaintiff-friendly atmosphere and giving such cases far greater scrutiny.

In Mississippi, they said, passage of tort reform measures and the re-election of a conservative court resulted in several judicial orders last year that could result in thousands of asbestos claims being dismissed.

The Mississippi Supreme Court in 2004 scaled back its joinder rule. As a result, three trial court judges ordered plaintiffs to supply details for each claim, including where they live, where and when they were exposed to asbestos, and where the defendants reside.

[Read More]

Army Decides Against Asbestos Disposal Plant

2005-02-11T08:08:00.000-08:00

The Army has changed its mind and decided not to put an asbestos disposal plant at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Harford County Executive James M. Harkins announced yesterday.

Aberdeen and Edgewood area residents opposed the project. During a community meeting held by APG in October to explain the process, residents shouted down post officials and demanded that they address their safety concerns about the proposed plant.

Mark Jones, who lives in Joppa, just outside the APG gate, set the tone of the meeting when he said, "This can be done anywhere in the nation. Why is it being done in such a densely populated area?

"Don't put this in anybody's back yard," he yelled from the back of the room. "Take it out in the middle of a desert."

[Read More]

State of the Union Misleads Public

2005-02-10T18:30:00.000-08:00

Josh Chambers of the East Tennessean writes about a number of Bush deceptions during the State of the Union address including Bush's plan for liability reform and his specific mention of asbestos litigation.

Bush also mentioned liability reform in his speech. He oddly singled out liability due to asbestos poisoning. However, this focus on asbestos may be explained by the fact that Halliburton recently lost a $30 million suit brought against it by 100 families. The families were suing because of asbestos poisoning in the military by a company Halliburton purchased when Vice President Dick Cheney was its CEO.

[Read More]

WR Grace Accused Of Hiding Asbestos At Montana Site

2005-02-10T15:26:00.000-08:00

W.R. Grace and Co., a chemical company that owns a 27-acre plot in North Cambridge, was indicted Monday by a federal grand jury on charges that officials hid evidence of asbestos contamination at the company's Montana site. Seven Grace executives are charged with burying reports that show a vermiculite mine in Libby, Mont. was releasing asbestos, a carcinogenic fiber, into the air, according to media reports.

The vermiculite mine in the indictment is located 130 miles northwest of Missoula and has been linked to 200 deaths and 1,200 illnesses, according to media reports. It closed in 1990. Grace officials deny any "criminal wrongdoing" in Montana and say they are "surprised by the government's methods and disappointed by ... these allegations."

[Read More]

Taking A Stab At Justice In Asbestos Cases

2005-02-10T15:22:00.000-08:00

More than a quarter century ago, the W.R. Grace company heard complaints that its vermiculite mine near Libby posed serious health risks. This week a federal grand jury released an indictment accusing the company and its top executives of conspiring for decades to hide those risks.

If convicted, the company faces hundreds of millions in possible fines, and the execs could head to prison. The company and top brass deny any criminal wrongdoing, and they deserve the opportunity to present their case in court.

Six years ago the Seattle Post Intelligencer first wrote about the Libby mine and the number of asbestos-related deaths there. More than 200 residents had died, and hundreds more were sick.

[Read More]

US Republicans Ask For Changes To Asbestos Plan

2005-02-10T15:19:00.000-08:00

US Republicans have asked for changes to Senator Arlen Specter's $140 Billion Asbestos Bill. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told reporters that he thought committee chairman Specter would "hopefully" make some modifications to the draft bill that would take asbestos injury claims out of the courts.

"It was very good and constructive. Everyone was very frank and specific about what their concerns were. But everyone remains committed to getting a bill out," Cornyn said.

Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, met with other members of his party on the judiciary panel in an effort to gauge support for the embattled proposal for a fund to compensate victims of asbestos. The plan has critics in both parties.

[Read More]

Shop In Beltsville, MD Has Montana Asbestos

2005-02-10T07:54:00.000-08:00

Sheldon Myrie was sure to keep out of the back room at his Beltsville workplace after he learned that federal officials discovered trace amounts of asbestos that had traveled to the Maryland shop from a Montana mine. Sites across the country are contaminated with the Libby, Montana asbestos.

"Libby is a tiny fraction of the asbestos disaster in this nation," Richard Wiles, senior vice president at Environmental Working Group, a research and advocacy organization, said yesterday. "People close to these sites for the years they were run should definitely be concerned. I'm not recommending panic, but this stuff is not to be messed with. It's deadly."

[Read More]

Deutsche Tower Demolition Doubles to $90M

2005-02-10T07:41:00.000-08:00

Costs of demolishing New York's 40-storey Deutsche Bank building, contaminated with toxins-- including asbestos-- by Sept. 11 debris, has doubled to $90 million, and the bank and its insurers, Allianz AG and Axa SA, will be asked to pay.

The development corporation paid Deutsche Bank $90 million for the building and agreed to assume $45 million of demolition costs. The tower, once the headquarters of Bankers Trust Corp., suffered a 15-story gash across its front facade when girders fell from the trade center's collapsing south tower.

The opening exposed the interior to a blast of toxic dust, which investigators found laden with asbestos, lead, dioxin and other hazardous substances, and rain that introduced mold and bacterial contamination.

[Read More]

BuRec employees to get 4-day week

2005-02-10T07:37:00.000-08:00

To satisfy safety concerns related to asbestos removal in the Billings federal building, the Bureau of Reclamation Great Plains Regional office will be adopting a compressed work week starting Feb. 20.

The General Services Administration "has informed us that on normal workweeks, they intend to have the abatement work recommence at 6 p.m. Friday, and the abatement work will continue through midnight Saturday,'' he said. "Air samples will be gathered and results are expected by late Sunday evening."

Keeping employees away on Mondays will allow time for return of sample results and retesting before employees are back in their offices Tuesdays.

[Read More]

W.R. Grace & Co. Accused Of Asbestos Coverup

2005-02-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

Federal prosecutors yesterday charged W.R. Grace & Co. with exposing mine workers and residents in a small mountain community in Libby, Montana to deadly asbestos and covering up the danger.

The Columbia-based chemical manufacturer stands accused of breaking environmental laws and obstructing justice by misleading government officials probing the widespread contamination. The company allegedly buried a paper trail dating back to 1976 that traced how asbestos dust from its mine had permeated the lungs of workers, their family members and even residents who jogged on the high school running track.

[Read More]

Asbestos fears for Sydney's ADI site

2005-02-09T15:06:00.000-08:00

Former government land used by the Australian military has beed sold to Lend Lease for the development of 5000 single family homes. The Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia wants to have assurances that the parcel of land is free of asbestos fibers.

"It's not hard to get people out there, experts, independent experts, to examine and test to see if there is any residual asbestos," he said.

A spokesman for Lend Lease, Arthur Ilias, says he is confident all asbestos has been removed.

"All the remediation work has been reviewed by independent auditors and has met all the government requirements and safety standards," he said.

[Read More]

Republicans to Meet on Key Senator's Asbestos Bid

2005-02-09T13:34:00.000-08:00

Republican members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee plan to meet privately Thursday regarding support for Arlen Specter's $140 billion proposed asbestos compensation fund.

Specter has proposed a $140 billion fund to compensate victims of asbestos, a fire-retardant mineral once widely used for insulation and construction that is linked to a number of illnesses. Specter's proposal also would cap the liability of companies paying damages.

[Read More]

Asbestos: Ongoing Problem for School Districts

2005-02-09T10:10:00.000-08:00

Cleanup of Asbestos has been ongoing for about 20 years from schools in North America, but it continues to be problematic for many districts.

Petition Urges US to Fund Mesothelioma Research

2005-02-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF) announced on Feb. 9th a start to a grassroots campaign for a federal commitment to address the national tragedy of mesothelioma.

Resources are not unlimited either, but even with anticipated cuts in domestic spending, MARF is confident that the resources can be found. The National Cancer Institute, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Defense all significantly fund research in diseases other than meso. Their proposed budgets for 2006 are, respectively, $4.8 billion, $70.8 billion, and $401.7 billion. The Senate Judiciary Committee is considering controversial legislation to create a $140 billion trust fund to "compensate" asbestos disease victims after they get sick. "Surely Congress can find $30 million to prevent the suffering and death in the first place," says MARF Executive Director Christopher Hahn.

[Read More]

Warning: Asbestos Can Be Hazardous To Your Stock Price

2005-02-09T09:44:00.000-08:00

Ignoring the clear danger posed by asbestos to physical health, its effect on corporate health is clearly disastrous. That is what W.R. Grace is discovering in the wake of Feb. 8th’s indictment of seven of it’s executives for their negligence and complacency in exposing miners and their families to asbestos in a small mining community in Montana.

Asbestos lawsuits pushed Grace and 61 of its U.S. subsidiaries and affiliates to file a voluntary petition to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code on April 2, 2001. Although the company proposed a plan last November to exit bankruptcy, it has still not received approval, and the indictment will certainly cast a pall over those discussions.

[Read More]

Montanta Asbestos Good For Cancer, Little Else

2005-02-09T09:33:00.000-08:00

It seems that the asbestos present and inhaled by the residents of Libby, MT was not very effective at strengthening concrete, soundproofing buildings or insulating boilers, brake pads or clutches.

However, if someone attempted to create an asbestos fiber that was effective at triggering cancer and other health problems, experts are saying it could hardly have been done better.

Nature made six types of asbestos, magnesium silicates that exist in nature as bundles of tiny fibers that can fray or be picked apart. The kind that occurred in the W.R. Grace & Co. vermiculite mine is known as tremolite, but not all tremolite is created equal.

Dr. Victor L. Roggli, a Duke University pathologist who studies asbestos-related illnesses, said Libby's tremolite was distinguished by its long, slender fibers, which make it particularly dangerous.

[Read More]

U.S. asbestos bill hits more snags

2005-02-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

The future of a U.S. Senate plan to create a $140 billion asbestos compensation fund is uncertain as support wanes among Republicans.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told reporters the measure would be voted on "at some point" but other bills would advance while work continued on the plan to take asbestos compensation out of the courts.

Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said the asbestos proposal, as it now stood, had so little Republican support that it might not get out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

[Read More]

Indictment Gives Grace More Fiscal Uncertainty

2005-02-09T09:21:00.000-08:00

Criminal charges against W.R. Grace & Co. for its actions in a Montana mining town are clouding the Columbia-based chemical maker's future. Specifically, its ability to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a strong financial position.

The company's stock dropped 8.3 percent yesterday, the day after federal prosecutors accused Grace of exposing mine workers and residents in Libby, Mont., to deadly asbestos and covering up the danger. The stock closed down 95 cents, at $10.50 per share. Grace operated a vermiculite mine in Libby from 1963 until the early 1990s.

[Read More]

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