Topic: Asbestos

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.

Scientists are researching new methods of treating mesothelioma, as well as 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.

Diagnosis is a relevant area of research that still has room to grow. 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.

This is big news for people who have been exposed to asbestos, as tests like this can be identified 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.

In a blow to Wall Street today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed new rules that would give customers back the right to file class-action lawsuits against financial firms.

The rules seem certain to take effect because they are not subject to congressional approval. When implemented, they would apply to bank accounts, credit cards, and other types of consumer loans.

Under the new rules, lenders would not be able to force customers to agree to mandatory arbitration that prevents class-action lawsuits when those customers sign up for financial accounts. The rules would overturn decades of machinations by the credit card companies, banks and other lenders to deny their clients a fair day in court through the fine print of the agreements they sign. Lacking the right to band together in a lawsuit, most claims never make it to arbitration.

Because no federal database tracks arbitration, The New York Times created one in a yearlong investigation which found that entering arbitration was rare without the possibility of class-action.

We have covered arbitration on our blog previously, and are much in favor of the new proposal. The rules will be a step in the right direction toward protecting the consumer from harmful, one-sided practices.

In fact, we would like to see the law taken further, to provide people with protection from being coerced into forced arbitration agreements and preservation of their right to file lawsuits. According to the Wall Street Journal, “The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is considering restricting arbitration clauses in long-term care facility contracts.” We hope to see such restrictions enacted soon, to give elders a much-needed line of legal defense in an industry rife with abuse and negligence.

Asbestos Nation, part of the Environmental Working Group’s Action Fund, has found that 589 people died in Hawai‘i due to asbestos-related illnesses between the years of 1999-2013, an average rate of 39 deaths annually, in a study of asbestos deaths in all fifty states.

These figures include estimates of the number of deaths from lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure. Analysis in a study published in 2012 by scientists at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the United Nations’ World Heath Organization, suggests that there are 3.2 to 4 lung cancer deaths in the U.S. for every mesothelioma death among individuals exposed to asbestos. More information about the EWG statistical methods are available here.

Source: AsbestosNation.com / Environmental Working Group Action Fund

The widespread belief that asbestos is a problem of the past is a dangerous myth, and common misconceptions about asbestos today are no accident. Corporate interests spend millions upon millions of dollars to manufacture junk science and disinformation campaigns that claim asbestos does no harm. It is part of a strategy to sway courts in their favor, against victims whose lethal asbestos exposure came from their products.

A recent exposé by The Center for Public Integrity found that Ford has recently spent $40 million to reshape asbestos science “to change the narrative on the risks of asbestos brakes.” Ford is one of many auto manufacturers that had knowledge of the life-threatening dangers of using asbestos in brakes, many years before switching to metal and carbon materials. In Ford’s case, their own unpublished study in 1968 indicated the potential harm, yet they did not phase asbestos out completely from their brakes until the mid-1990s.

With so much investment in covering up the truth, it’s clear that asbestos still causes great harm—and that it is still a major liability for companies that put their workers in harm’s way.

Ford’s fabrications are merely the tip of the iceberg. For more, please read our article about how the Asbestos Industry Suppressed and Altered Medical Research, and tune in to our podcasts on Asbestos & Your Health w/ Cynthia Davis and the criminal way Traveler’s Insurance denied ever selling asbestos products in Hawai‘i.