Category: Asbestos

A proactive approach to banning and eliminating asbestos on ships prevents exposure and unnecessary illness and death.

Lack of uniformity can often lead to confusion, but when it involves a dangerous carcinogen such as asbestos, the likelihood of danger significantly increases as well. According to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), there are two options for ships:

1. If built after July 2002, the vessel’s flag registry, in conjunction with its classification society, issues a non-extendable exemption certificate, providing the owner with a three-year window in which to remove the asbestos.
2. If built prior to 2002, ships may contain asbestos but must have a hazardous materials’ register and management plan in place to cover any maintenance or repair work involving asbestos.

These two opposing options create a challenge in defining across-the-board safety standards to protect anyone working on or near sailing vessels. However, consistency and uniformity can be achieved by enforcing a complete ban of asbestos on all sailing vessels.

This requires that ships be assessed to ensure compliance. In the European Union alone, there are 30,000 ships requiring an IHM (Inventory of Hazardous Materials). Estimates are that 80% will contain some form of asbestos. The amount of asbestos found onboard depends on several factors, including where the ship was built. Ships can also be contaminated through items brought on board by the owners, despite assurances that they are asbestos free.

What is Asbestos?

Asbestos is a fibrous mineral known for its insulating and fire-retardant properties. For these reasons, asbestos was once a staple in most insulating products and many industrial and construction products. It was used in abundance at shipyards from coast to coast and on U.S. Navy ships such as those found in the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. In addition to widespread use across the United States, asbestos was also used around the world, including in the Middle East. The most deadly asbestos-related conditions among naval veterans and maritime workers or family members are malignant mesothelioma and lung cancer.

What Does “Asbestos Free” Really Mean?

Because of varying international standards, the term “asbestos free” can be quite misleading. In the USA, for instance, it is up to a 1.0% content, while in the EU it is 0.1% and 0% in Australia. China has no official standard at all. This is a concerning issue because a lot of material and equipment originates from China where it is still legal to use asbestos (See crayons and cars). Chinese manufacturers may set up a production line to supply ”asbestos free” materials, but they could also be unaware of cross contamination in their factory emanating from other production lines that are producing items containing asbestos.

How to Ensure an Asbestos-Free Ship

1. Hire an accredited asbestos contractor to inspect for asbestos, or engage a qualified laboratory to test any materials you suspect may contain asbestos.
2. If asbestos is found, have a properly trained and accredited asbestos contractor or accredited company remove the contaminated materials.
3. Once your vessel is determined to be asbestos-free, initiate a quality management system that tests materials supplied to the ship to ensure that they are safe.

Veterans and Asbestos Exposure

Thirty percent of those diagnosed with mesothelioma annually are military veterans. Asbestos exposure is the only known cause of mesothelioma. Asbestos-containing materials were used extensively in U.S. Navy shipyards and military bases. Veterans with a history of long-term or intensive navy asbestos exposure are particularly susceptible to this life-threatening cancer. When asbestos dust is inhaled into the lungs, it starts a chain of events within the body that can lead to the development of mesothelioma over time.

Pennsylvania Appeals Court Affirms Ruling that the Pittsburgh Board of Public Education Cannot Hide Behind Governmental Immunity to Avoid Asbestos Liability

In January 2017, a Pennsylvania Appeals Court affirmed the ruling of the trial court that Pittsburgh’s Board of Public Education (“PBPE”) will not be able to use governmental immunity to escape liability for the death of a teacher from mesothelioma. The teacher, who worked at a Pittsburgh high school, was exposed to asbestos dust in the school. She died over 50 years later from mesothelioma. Her estate has brought a claim against PBPE, as well as a number of corporate entities.

What is the Claim?

The plaintiff’s claim alleges that PBPE, as well as the corporate entities at issue, are liable for the death of a school teacher. The teacher was occupationally exposed to asbestos while she taught in the Pittsburgh school district resulting in her developing mesothelioma. She died from the disease in 2013. The claim alleges that her exposure to asbestos dust came from pipe coverings on the steam and water pipes located throughout the school.

The School Board’s Attempt at Claiming Governmental Immunity

PBPE appealed the decision of the trial court which stated that it could not rely on governmental immunity to escape liability for the teacher’s asbestos exposure. PBPE’s contention was that as a governmental entity it could not be held liable for the teacher’s death. The school board argued that failing to provide a safe place to work does not fall within the scope of exceptions to governmental immunity, and therefore, PBPE should be granted summary judgment.

However, the panel for the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the judgment of the trial court. The panel explained that public employers, even if they are governmental entities, have a common law duty to ensure that the work environment is safe. This includes maintaining safe structures free from asbestos dust. The attorney for the plaintiff applauded the decision, suggesting that this will allow people who have been truly injured to seek justice and compensation from the parties responsible for the injury.

As reported total’s digital issue of Pacific Business News, Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman has won a major judgment in Hawai‘i State Circuit Court against a San Francisco law firm that engaged in bad faith legal practices.

On May 1, the Hawai‘i state court ruled that a case over asbestos exposure at Pearl Harbor was tainted by an improper defense by San Francisco law firm Hugo Parker LLP in its representation of manufacturer Tate Andale Inc. In the case, Hugo Parker was alleged to have both engaged in discovery deceit and to have failed to investigate the cover-up of tens of thousands of documents that were improperly withheld by the manufacturer.

Judge Rhonda Nishimura ruled that the $1.12 million award reflected the costs incurred by plaintiffs solely through the defense’s misdeeds, stating, “Those fees and costs would not have been incurred in the absence of the sanctioned conduct.”

The case in question stems from a December 2016 ruling against Hugo Parker. Client Tate Andale was alleged to have caused injury to plaintiff William Schane. Schane had been diagnosed with Mesothelioma, which Plaintiffs alleged resulted from exposure to industrial products containing asbestos at Pearl Harbor’s submarine repair base. The manufacturer, Tate Andale, claimed that virtually none of the firm’s products ever contained asbestos.

After attorneys at the Galiher law firm uncovered evidence of asbestos in Tate Andale products, Hugo Parker attorneys repeatedly claimed that documents requested by plaintiffs did not exist, could not be located or were for products that did not contain asbestos.

When compelled to comply with the Galiher law firm’s disclosure requests, Hugo Parker ultimately produced more than 60,000 records that had been culpably withheld. Not only had the historical documents requested by plaintiffs in discovery been readily available all along, the trove revealed the existence of asbestos in a product the company had previously claimed had none.

Ilana Waxman, managing partner of Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman, which represented the plaintiffs, said, “Tate Andale and its CEO had clearly decided to commit perjury as a legal strategy. This included altering some of its own documents to make it look like they hadn’t contained asbestos. Its defense attorneys did not follow the rules of legal ethics; rather, they opted to try to help their client cover up its historical sales of asbestos-containing products to the U.S. Navy and Pearl Harbor.”

The Pearl Harbor shipyard has been a major source of asbestos exposure in Hawai‘i, affecting thousands of residents, workers and their families in the islands according to court records. Mesothelima is a devastating and incurable cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. The disease can take several decades to develop so exposure many years ago continues to cause disease in Navy veteran and shipyard workers today.

About Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman
Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman is a Hawai‘i law firm founded in 1978 and nationally recognized for its work on behalf of victims of mesothelioma and asbestos cancer. The firm also serves Hawai‘i residents in cases of elder abuse, serious personal injury and wrongful death. The firm has represented hundreds of mesothelioma clients, assisting in cases in over 40 states and several foreign countries.

A range of proposed changes to the civil justice system under the Trump administration would threaten the rights of plaintiffs in personal injury cases; deprive US citizens of their Seventh Amendment right to a trial by jury; and make it far more difficult for individual workers and consumers to hold large corporations accountable in court.

 
Most concerning, the agenda could include a series of restrictive and invasive procedures and litigation requirements for clients in class actions, pharmaceutical cases, and asbestos cases. The proposed legislation would require that trusts established to fund asbestos claims would be required to report any payments made to plaintiffs, putting personal and financial information at risk. A push to make it harder for plaintiffs to keep cases in state courts would also infringe on the rights of personal injury plaintiffs.

We encourage all citizens to pay attentions to these developments and let your representatives know your opinions on them.

While Hawai‘i is home to some of the best weather and most scenic beauty on the planet, it also has its share of spots where the forces of nature can collide to create extremely unsafe conditions for residents and visitors alike.  As one of Hawai‘i’s leading personal injury law firms, we want to help share knowledge of these locations to help keep both residents and visitors safe.

Kipu Falls in east Kauai is one such spot.  Though the flowing waters are beautiful — and inviting — five deaths in five years make entering them a risk not worth taking.  The falls are closed now with barriers to entry, but trespassing still occurs. We respectfully advise all to risk neither the injury nor the fine that entering these waters could incur.

As we remember last month’s 75^th anniversary of the historic attack on Pearl Harbor, let’s not forget the Pearl Harbor shipyard workers, whose struggle followed. The heroic efforts of the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, assisted by tenders and ships’ crewmen, put the following ships back to sea in a little over two months: battleships Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Tennessee; cruisers Honolulu, Helena, and Raleigh; destroyers Helm and Shaw, seaplane tender Curtiss, repair ship Vestal and the floating drydock YFD-2. All were in active duty by mid-1942.

Other members of fleet were damaged to the point of near total loss. These were stripped for serviceable machinery, equipment and especially weapons. The work was vital to America’s national interest, but also dangerous to all involved. During the war years, as well as for many decades that followed, exposure to asbestos could be part of the daily ship repair work. This is why even until the present day, the Pearl Harbor shipyard continues to be the source of exposure for many cases of mesothelioma in Hawai‘i.

Scientists are continuing to develop new methods of treating mesothelioma, and looking for improvements to existing treatments such as chemotherapy and surgery. Their innovations are advancing care practices not only of mesothelioma, but of cancer in all its forms.

Detection is another relevant area of research that still has room to advance. Mesothelioma is typically diagnosed at an advanced stage, which makes it more difficult to treat. Breakthroughs in this area will give those afflicted a better chance to fight their illness.

Researchers are currently experimenting with a few new techniques to identify this deadly disease in its earlier stages. While the science has not yet produced final tests, several experiments have shown promising results that bring us that much closer to breaking through.

Mesothelioma Breath Test

One of these methods under development uses a fairly simple breath test. A Belgian research team has published a paper in the Journal of Breath Research that demonstrated an 87% rate of accuracy in detecting malignant pleural mesothelioma—the most common type of asbestos-related cancer, which comprises roughly 80% of mesothelioma cases.

The researchers were able to distinguish between asbestos workers who had no sign of any disease from workers who had already developed mesothelioma. This test is known as multicapillary column/ion mobility spectrometry (MCC/IMS), and is frequently employed in the detection of other dangerous matter inhaled in a variety of occupations.

The MCC/IMS test has a distance to go before it will be ready as a method of mesothelioma diagnosis, but as the research paper concludes it “holds promise for further investigation as a screening tool for former asbestos-exposed persons at risk of developing MPM.”

Mesothelioma Detection Using Exosomes

Minuscule substances known as exosomes are naturally occurring in the bloodstream, created during the formation of new cells. Exosomes contain materials from the cells that create them, which includes proteins and RNA. Thus, exosomes can be used in the detection of various forms of cancer. Because they pass through the kidney into urine, a urine test could be used to detect these cancers.

Dr. David W. Greening published a study in Scientific Reports to determine whether exosomes could be reliably used to detect mesothelioma. With proven methods of detecting ovarian and prostate cancers as a basis, Dr. Greening led a team study of mesothelioma cells to model and analyze what types of exosomes the cells produce.

This study did not conclusively demonstrate that exosomes could be used to detect mesothelioma, but the researchers are optimistic about further study. Comprehensive analysis of exosomes “could represent potential specific diagnostic targets for factors of MM origin.”

HMGB1

Finally, and probably the most promising of all, is the recent discovery that the high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) protein is a biomarker of cancer. As such, it can be measured (through a blood test) to detect the presence of cancer.

HMGB1 gives much more accurate and sensitive results than other currently existing techniques, which makes it an exciting prospect for researchers who want to apply it to mesothelioma diagnosis. Because asbestos-damaged cells produce HMGB1, it is present in higher amounts in people who have developed mesothelioma. Not only that, but the researchers’ tests also identified patients who had been exposed to asbestos but had yet to develop mesothelioma.

If these tests make it into clinical use, it will be exciting news for people who have been exposed to asbestos, as their exposure will be identifiable and monitored for the progression of asbestos-related illnesses, helping them and their medical team in potential health battles to come.

Early Diagnosis Still on the Horizon

Early mesothelioma diagnosis is still an area of active research, and these new techniques are still under development. If any of them are successfully developed, it will take years more of research and trials before they are put into clinical use.

Nevertheless, a reliable way to detect mesothelioma early on will improve patients’ chances to stop the disease before it can spread, and so the research must go on. Mesothelioma is very often caught in late stages, which is a major part of why it is so lethal. The prospect of early detection makes us hopeful that those diagnosed will go on to live much longer and healthier lives.